


Child of the Earth

by Medicalnonsense



Series: Stardust [2]
Category: Game Grumps, Ninja Sex Party - Fandom, Starbomb (Band)
Genre: Aliens, Child of the stars, Egobang - Freeform, M/M, Science Fiction, Space Alien Dan, lots of fuckin aliens, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-23 23:57:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 64,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6134443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Medicalnonsense/pseuds/Medicalnonsense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Child of the Stars:<br/>Dan, an alien from the Andromeda galaxy, has settled on Earth for the past three years for a few reasons:  One reason is he believes Earth to be threatened by fugitive aliens from his home galaxy, and the other is that he is in love with Arin.  The only problem with either of these things is that he has no proof of the first and Arin doesn't remember anything about being in love with him!<br/>After he receives a missive from an intergalactic court calling for his and Arin's presences, Dan's undercover existence on Earth is torn apart.  There is a lot more at work--and at stake--however, than either Dan or Arin, or the rest of Earth knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro:  Constant As the Stars Above

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to give everyone some breathing room between the last chapter of Child of the Stars and the first of this one, but I just got too excited.

             Dan had been very happy.  Happy didn’t begin to describe how he had felt in most recent years.  Potentially, they were in the running for the happiest years of his life.  He had Ross to thank the most, he decided.  Without Ross introducing Arin to his and Brian’s music, Arin never would have emailed him and they wouldn't have been reunited.  Dan never would’ve gotten back to the people whom he loved most.  For all of Dan’s suspicions surrounding Ross, he had become a greater ally and _friend_ than he had ever anticipated possible.  While Dan hadn’t informed the legal bodies responsible for his “naturalization” of Ross, he had felt it particularly illogical to erase the memory of another non-human living on the surface of the planet.  Ross remembered all the turmoil of those years passed, but none of his other friends did.   
             At first, Dan’s reintroduction to the group--post council with legal bodies--had been a shaky one.  He didn’t know his boundaries with any of them anymore.  Not even speaking on the fact that he had to sit through endless amounts of personal exposition he already knew.  Least of all, however, he didn’t know how to handle Arin.  His insides literally quivered in his presence, drawing him closer, begging him to touch, to kiss, to hold him in his arms again.  He couldn’t let that happen…  He couldn’t afford to feed his already rampant emotions just to be hurt again and he certainly couldn’t afford to have Arin fall in love with him again.   
              “Can’t wait to hang out!”  Dan had texted in those early days.   
             “Can’t wait to put my dick in your butt!”  Arin had responded much to the humor and equal befuddlement of Dan.  Arin had been forward during their initial friendship, but he hadn’t quite experienced that…  Arin, also, had stated many times that before his prior relationship with Dan, he hadn’t considered whether or not he was interested in men.  Considering Arin had been returned to the state _pre_ -relationship, it made no sense to Dan for Arin to be acting this way unless it was only for comedic intent.  There was only one easy way to deflect this, “Hey, uh, that’s cool and all, but, not gay.”  Dan made sure to “remind” Arin upon getting to their engagement.  Of course, eventually, after much dialog from a fandom-following and umpteen-million gay jokes, Dan, eventually, gave up.   
             “What if we just fucked one day?”   
             “What?” Arin had responded during that playthrough.   
             “You know, what if we just fucked?”   
             “Dude, you are _so_ weird today!”  There was much laughter and reveling in friendship and so on, but really what was involved was Dan’s energy waning.  After all this time he still loved him.  Loved him _long_ and achingly.  Though he had taken on girlfriends and flights of fancy, nothing stood up to his love for Arin.  This was somewhat to be expected as Dan had a physical _totem_ in the shape of a hardened pearl filled with Arin’s nucleic DNA inside of him, but there was another facet to this frustration.  It wasn’t _natural_ for a zilbyrgh to love one and only one.  Two--at least--were needed in his society to fulfill the Person.  Traditionally it was two anyway, less traditionally three or four or sometimes, rarely, five!  Just one was…  Dan didn’t ever think he’d fall in love with anyone really, not with one, nor would he settle with two.  Arin though…  If he could love one, why not two?  Each time he tried, it seemed like his previous sexcapades.  The loud wailing of the Miriodian, the low rumble of a Torbian, the most of all his female--and **very** rarely other male--Terran partners were all the same.   
             He longed for Arin’s gasps and lewd words, lusted for the Fulfillment only he could give him.  Dan wanted to drag his hands down his hot, bare skin once more…  Why only Arin?  While Dan did not mope, it was, at times, hard not to obsess over his inability to bring another into the graces of his love and devotion.  He spent three times the amount of time with some girls that he had with Arin without even the vaguest stirrings of feelings that compared.  It both puzzled and saddened him.   
             His lack of romantic affection for any others than Arin had hurt many people that he never wanted to.  People he loved as his personal friends and deeply-trusted confidants had been hurt by something he desperately wished to have control over.  This incessant living as a human was just as rewarding as it was agonizing and exhausting.  Ross had been very right to say that living with humans resulted in making a person want to be one.  All the same, Dan felt small vestiges of his sanity crumbling.   
             “You’re not born here, get clearance and go on vacation.”  Ross suggested, chewing a large chunk of apple, “You might even go home.  I’m sure someone on your home planet could explain to you what’s ‘wrong,’ if anything actually is…  Which I doubt.”  He shifted his teeth around in his mouth to better grind the fruit.  Dan felt Ross’s casual playing with his morphable anatomy in his presence both heartening and disgusting simultaneously.  The shape-shifting abilities of the Kriranrk--a species native to a planet called Irapraxiis in the Milky-Way galaxy--worked differently than Dan’s own race.  Dan’s body was fluid, much like liquid silicone, allowing him to take on any shape or color that he desired, Ross’s own abilities relied much more on the shifting of internal, grinding, carapace plates.  Needless to say, it produced some rather unpleasant noises on top of whatever else it was he was doing.  Anyway, Ross trusted him enough to test his long-ignored abilities, but at the same time, a lot of what he did with those abilities was gross.   
             Ross had, long ago, vowed to never look like his species of origin again.  He was of an extraterrestrial race of “space centipede” as Arin had put it years ago--before the memory wipe.  A space centipede that was more similar to plants by Earth standards, really.  Natural shape-shifters, depending upon their environment, Ross had run into issues of being unable to resume anything close to his birth form.  In recent years, Ross had divulged that this worried his “parents,” or, as the Kriranrk referred to them his “caregivers.”  His caregivers were Irapraxiis-born--unlike himself, and so, naturally, took issue with this.  Obviously, Ross didn’t care, he was an Earthling--or Terran depending upon who one spoke to--and as an Earth-born non-human, had full rights extended to him that were extended to humans.  However, this meant that he could never leave Earth by extraterrestrial intervention.  Which he was also fine with.   
             “Brian’s cooperation would be needed.”  Dan reminded him, sipping his coffee as he stared at his computer screen.  He and Brian were fixing to put out a new album soon.  Oh…  And a _lot_ had taken place in Brian’s personal life over the past three years.  Most of which, Dan had never seen coming in a million years.  “I don’t know anyone else that has a ship to get off planet.”   
             “Yeah, I guess.  He does have a lot going on.”  Ross accepted, “I can’t imagine that--”   
             “You’d be surprised.”  Dan wrinkled his brow, listening to Ross chew his food, “Look, you want to be human, can you _not_ sound like a living garbage disposal?!”   
             Ross sealed-up his lips until he had no mouth at all…  Disgusting to look at on a human shape, really.  Dan had no talking rights, however, his natural form didn’t have a mouth either.   
             “That’s not going to help.”  Danny nonetheless grumped as the grinding noises continued, albeit, slightly muffled.   
             Ross, as he had no mouth, did not speak, did not smile, did not smirk.  He did stare, however, doing his best impression of Brian.  Largely, he did succeed as Dan thought it a very accurate depiction of the man while wearing his ninja hoodie.   
             “You’re doing just great on looking human.  A+ for your.  You could go for all ten eyes too if you really want.  Why not a rusty-brown carapace too?  Pincers--Goddammit Ross.”  Dan grumbled as a pair of sectioned, pointed antennae grew from his head, and his eyes disappeared.  The only _real_ problem in Ross fussing with his body was that it split his skin and caused bleeding where new things grew from.  This was going to be a spectacular mess to clean up.  “How’s the thermal vision?”   
             Ross nodded and accordingly fixed his anatomy to normal as the sounds of Suzy and Barry’s arrival echoed about the space.  Yep, that was a mess.  Ross’s face looked like a bad rendition of the _Saw_ films as he corrected himself to human proportions again.  Danny threw a roll of paper towels across the space between their desks, Ross feverishly cleaning himself off as Dan stood to intercept Barry and Suz.   
             He smiled to both humans and put his arms out for hugs, “Good morning!” He declared, happier than he normally was at ten AM.   
             “Gooood morning!” Suzy declared, a bag clutched in one hand as she threw her arms around Danny.  Barry tried to scoot past Dan, another bag in hand, but found himself thwarted by the introduction of Dan’s hip between him and the door.  “Come on, Barry, group morning hug.”   
             “Nooo,” Barry refused in a tired tone, “Rooooss!” He yelled into the hall of desks, “Roooooooooooooss!”   
             “What?”  Ross questioned, Danny accordingly moving so Barry could stumble into the room and Dan could go back to working at his desk.   
             “We got breakfast!”  Suzy declared as Dan plopped back down.   
             “What about me?” Danny whined at the news.   
             “Yes, I remembered you.”  Suzy passed out usual breakfast orders as Barry went straight to Ross, poking him.   
             “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,”   
             Ross chewed the first bite of his breakfast.  Like a regular human being of course, fellow humans.   
             “Hey, Ross, hey, Ross, Ross, Ross, Ross, Ross, Ross,”

             Ross continued eating.  Ignoring Barry as he begged for attention.  Danny watched with a smile as Barry began to slap Ross’s arm playfully, adding to his annoying overtures.  God, he loved these assholes.  
             Then Arin showed up…  Well, it wasn’t a dramatic intro or anything.  Arin shuffled in, looking half dead.  His hair was a mess, bags drooped from under his eyes.  Danny hadn’t seen him look so haggard in quite sometime.   
             “You look like Mochi beat you six ways to Sunday.”  Dan commented, searching within his Bond with Arin for some kind of clue.  As was common when Arin was not incredibly distressed by something, he found absolutely nothing helpful.   
             “Had some weird dreams.”  Arin mumbled, taking the offer of a coffee from Suzy.  This announcement caught Dan’s attention in particular.  The prior night had mysterious lights in the sky and suddenly Dan was up in arms about this.  However, he couldn’t show just how much this upset him.  All the same, what _were_ the chances that the lights in the sky were actual alien crafts that were abducting Arin?  Come on, he had already fulfilled that role of the abducting, anal-probing alien.  That was _his_ job!   
             “What kind?” Dan chuckled, “Were you getting harassed by dolphins again?”   
             “No, it was a lot of green light and…”  Arin paused, seeming to debate whether or not do divulge something, “I just need my coffee.”   
             Dan drew his brows together in befuddlement, “Green light?”   
             “Yeah, and…”  Arin’s body shivered, “I don’t want to talk about it.”  Dan had seen a shiver like that before.  This was hardly the proper context for it.   
             “Was it more of a nightmare?” Suzy asked, watching Arin sip his coffee.   
             Arin shrugged before looking between Dan and Suzy, “Guys, it was just a dream.  Not a big deal!”   
             “Right, yeah.” Dan chuckled as if easily passing off the happening, but looked to Ross nonetheless for any inkling that he felt something was amiss.  Dan, of course, didn’t dream during his periods of sleep, human dreams were, therefore, still beyond the scope of his understand.  He had sat in on a few and watched them play out awhile ago in Arin’s head, but he was incapable of truly understanding the feeling.  Even Brian had the chance to experience dreaming…  Instead, the closest thing that Dan could do was choose a specific day of his life to review in his sleep, but, he usually found those instances doing nothing but causing heartache.   
             All the same, Ross didn’t appear to be concerned in the least.  He was contending with Barry who wanted to play more of “Undertale” today.  Dan wondered if Ross dreamed.  Dreaming, so far, was unique to humans, and if the Kriranrk dreamed, it was a very closely-guarded secret.  Nonetheless, the Kriranrk did have cycles of sleep and wakefulness, but what happened during their sleep, no one was willing to speak on.   
             Dan had to turn off the analytical side of himself, that wasn’t his goal anymore.  His goal was to live and make the world a less douchy place.  It didn’t matter if Ross dreamed or not, Ross was human, _wanted_ to be human more than anything.  Dan would never ask him and disturb the delicate understanding that Ross had of himself.  Why be an asshole to one of his best friends?   
             “Dan?”   
             “Uh, what?”  Dan looked up to Arin, “What’s up?”   
             “You were just staring into space, buddy…”   
             Dan chuckled, “You know me, caught up in dumb ideas again.”   
             “Ah, right,” Arin patted his shoulder, gripping it and jostling him, “C’mon Sexbang, we got work to do.”   
  
             Work was fine, nothing unexpected.  Home was…  Not fine…  And _very_ unexpected.  Dan stared at the summons in his hand.  It wasn’t on paper, no, it was an _intergalactic_ summons on his long-unused warp-pad.  Unfortunately, the summons he was reading had been sent two _weeks_ ago and he had a second holocard to assess.  Uh-oh…   
             “As you have been unresponsive, we have no choice but to assume you have either not received our missive, or you are willfully refusing to respond.  Officers of the Unified Industrial Cluster of Sector Seven will be sent promptly to collect you.”  This was more or less the equivalent translation of the pair of letters.  Which also meant that this translated to “Very fucking bad.”  Dan felt himself shiver.   
             He had little contact with anyone offworld for some time.  He conversed with his parents and sibling _once_ in the past three years.  Other than that, he had willfully kept himself isolated from the rest of the galactic community.  He was once a very respected xenologist--bordering on an ambassador!--on his home planet of Vysvaa, but he had willingly abdicated all of that to live here on Earth and become a musician.  Out of his love for the planet, its people and, most importantly, his love for Arin.  His best friend whom he may or may not have been carrying a torch for since the untimely, government-mandated termination of their relationship.  An order that had also made him wipe all of Arin’s memories of him and thus, necessitated him introducing himself to Arin and his friends all over again.   
             His hard work of seeming like a regular human aside, this was _not_ just something he could ignore.  He needed his caseworker here, _now._  His caseworker was a lovely human being that gave him almost everything during his transition from Vysvian to Terran--or Earthling.   
             It was very clear that Dan, and probably Brian, were going to have a pressing need to leave the surface.  Considering Brian was something similar to an inter-dimensional, Vysvian race of star whale and was Dan’s ship when going between planets or galaxies, it was imperative that he receive clearance to do as well.  Unfortunately, as Dan and Brian were not recognized partners in any other way than friends or business associates, they had separate caseworkers.  So, before he called his case-worker, he called Brian.   
             “What?”  Brian questioned, a crying noise in the background.  Oh, yeah, by the way,  Brian was married…  And had a baby…  Well, _he_ didn’t have the baby as would’ve been standard for a Ydyrn having offspring, his human wife did…  About that…   
  
              _“Dan…  Dan…”_ _  
_ _“Brian, do not make me strangle your new body.  You just found one that fits.”  Danny grumbled, rolling over in the bed he and Brian shared at the naval base.  “Go the fuck to sleep.”_ _  
_ _“I can’t stop…”_ _  
_ _“Thinking of that human again?”  Danny assumed, propping his head up on the pillow as he realized he was not going to reach stasis any time soon.  What right did he have to dismiss Brian’s feelings anyway?  He too was pining over a human._ _  
_ _“Rachel… His wife’s name is Rachel…”  Brian muttered._ _  
_ _“Yeah, but you’re not Harold.  It’ll be different.”_ _  
_ _“Does she even know his body is gone from the hospital?”  Brian wondered aloud._ _  
_ _“I like to believe that the only bodies you get are ones that the humans have opted to dispose of.”_ _  
_ _“It’s bothering me… I can’t stop thinking about her.  I need to find her.”_ _  
_ _Danny sat up, “Whoa, no, no you don’t.”  He put a hand on Brian’s side, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but--”_ _  
_ _“It’s like I’m drawn to her… This body wants… Her?”  Brian stared blankly up at the ceiling of the dorm.  “It’s…  Not unpleasant.”_ _  
_ _“Brian, I know you’re all ‘do first and talk later,’ but that’s a bad idea.  As you would tell me, ‘don’t be a fucking idiot.’”  Danny logically tried to dissuade._ _  
_ _“You don’t understand, Lyrda… I…”  Brian rolled over, “No… No, you’re right, it’s…  Very unwise.  Stupid…”_ _  
_ _“You told me you’re okay, but I really am starting to doubt that, Brian…  Maybe you should petition for a new body again.  Talk to Gerald.”_ _  
_ _Brian sat up too, pushing Dan’s hand off his side, “This is the only one I want!” he shouted, immediately seeing the hurt on Dan’s face.  “I’m…  I’m sorry, I don’t…”_ _  
_ _“Bryrrna…”  Dan leaned away as Brian reached to touch him, “I really don’t like this…”_ _  
_ _“I don’t know why I did that.”  Brian looked down to his hands against the bedclothes, “It’s…  Sometimes like I’m not me.  Harold isn’t here, but…  I know_ **_everything_ ** _about him.”  He looked up to Dan, a pleading light in his blue eyes, “When he was in school, there was this girl who tried to flirt with him all the time, but I was too oblivious to notice it…  Eventually we started hating each other and it just became us trying to outdo each other in every nerdy science class and I--”_ _  
_ _“Bryrrna, you’re doing that again.”_ _  
_ _“Doing what?”_ _  
_ _“Saying ‘I’ when talking about him…  I’m really worried.”_ _  
_ _Brian was silent, looking away again, “Me too, but…  When I think of…  Of leaving this body, there is something that tells me to stay.  I don’t know if it’s me, or if it’s something_ **_about_ ** _this body.”_ _  
_ _Dan sighed and shook his head, running his fingers through his hair, “Well, I did once say that you Ydyrn are very close to humans.  Perhaps you’re even closer than I gave you credit for.”  Dan hummed when he saw that didn’t lift his friend’s mood at all.  “Do you think they,” he motioned towards the door to the rest of the compound they still lived upon, “will let you pursue her?”_ _  
_ _“I don’t know… But why do I have to tell them?  We’re both moving out of this place soon.  I can find her then…  I remember where he lived.”_ _  
_ _“Bryrrna, I’m going to be honest, this new attitude of yours is scaring me.”_ _  
_ _“Me too…”_ _  
_ _  
_ That was three years ago all the same and much had happened.  Very much that had lead to the _human_ daughter Brian was tending to on the other end of the line.  The body that helped create the little life might not have originally been Brian’s body, but the small human, nonetheless, was the Vysvian star whale’s child.  The man leaned away from his phone to soothe the child’s crying, “Shhh, what do you want, Dan?” he asked again, quietly.   
             “I hate to tell you this…  But I’m being summoned offplanet.” Dan solemnly informed.   
             Brian was silent at first, the only sound being the child’s crying for awhile.   
             “I know, man…”   
             “Can someone else transport you?”  Brian asked in an even quieter voice, the crying finally having been soothed.  “I can’t…  I’ve not been offplanet--hell, I’ve not been out of my damn _holding zone_ since we gained citizenship.”   
             Dan was taken aback, not by Brian’s refusal, he had expected that, but the news that he hadn’t been taking care of his proper body astounded Dan.  Then again…  It had been almost six months since the last time Dan had asked for clearance to give Brian’s mechanical interior a tune-up.  That was worse than negligent, however, many problems came when a living creature’s interior fell under disrepair.   
             “Are you saying you haven’t flown at _all_ ?”  Dan fretted.   
             “No, I’ve flown, everything works, but…  It’s been so long.  I’m flabby!  Out of shape!  I have a daughter…  A _human_ daughter.  If I leave planet my body will need to be hospitalized…  I can’t do that to Rachel.  She’s already lost Harold, I won’t let her think she’s lost me too.”  All of these things were perfectly reasonable excuses, but Dan needed to be clear.   
             “I’m being called as a witness to the beginning of an intergalactic calamity, if I witnessed it, so did you.  They will eventually come for you too and you have a life it can seriously fuck up, Brian.”   
              Again, his best friend was silent at first, “Are you calling your caseworker today?” he eventually asked after his careful examination, probably going to his desk to pull out numbers.   
             “Yeah, after I hang up.”  Dan sighed, “I wanted you to know first.”   
             “They’re probably going to want more info on this… ‘Intergalactic calamity’ you mentioned.”   
             “I know, I only know what the summons says.”   
             “When do you think it was?”   
             “You know…”  Dan ran his tongue over his lips.   
             “No…  We didn’t see anything.” Brian quickly asserted, “We were barely in orbit for five minutes!”  The crying returned as Brian’s frustration subsided to soothe the upset toddler in his arms.   
             “I know…  What’s even worse, Brian, is that Arin was with us.”   
             Brian was slow to respond again, “You erased all his memories.  He’s useless in this case.”   
             “Yes, duh, but if they find that out--the courts?--I’ll be charged with destruction of evidence!”  Dan threaded his fingers into his hair.   
             “Shit.”  Brian sighed. “Do they have proof that Arin was with us?”   
             “When I requested landing privileges, I said there were three lifeforms on board.  I’m one, you’re two…  You know we’re going to be expected to collect Arin.”   
             “Lying isn’t an option either.” Brian grumbled, “We can’t just take Arin with us…  That’s abduction.  Even if we could get Arin to believe us and _somehow_ get it cleared with the folks back on base…  It would cause further problems.”   
             “I am in control of my emotions, Brian,” Dan huffed, “I have been for _three years_ , I’m _fine_ .” Dan couldn’t deny that he was…  Excited for the possibility of Arin being allowed to really _know_ him again.  Maybe…  If Dan could…   _Return_ his memory…  Could they…?   
             “Dan, don’t pretend that you’re not thinking about it.” Brian began again with a more soothing tone, “He’s your Bonded, it’s natural.  I’m not against anything…  But there’s a bigger picture to consider.  You’ll have to erase his memory again.”   
             Dan frowned, feeling his whole body grow heavy as lead.  “I can’t go through that again…”  He muttered.   
             “I don’t want you to…  You’re still…”  Brian took a deep breath, “I’ve not said it in awhile, but you’re my Captain, Dan, I love you.  I don’t want to see you hurt like that again.”   
             Dan let his mother tongue slip as he answered the heart-felt words, “I treasure you beyond expression as my life-long Ydyrn-partner as well, Bryrrna.”  He had to be quiet, his singing home language could get loud very easily.  He wasn’t sure if Barry was in his room or not.   
             “You still have a way with words.  I wish I could answer.”   
             “Maybe we could go home sometime…  I was talking to Ross about it.  I miss your real voice.” Dan commented sadly, “Even the annoying voice in my head.  We could actually sing together again.”   
             “I’ve not thought of going back, but…  If only for that, I would love to.”   
             “We could take Audrey with us.”  Dan supposed with a smile.   
             “No.  I don’t want her in any kind of danger.  You know humans are too fragile…  She would have to stay inside me.”  Brian rushed to answer, his ever-present anxiety of her safety raising its head.   
             “I understand.  Nothing would happen to her, I promise.”   
             “We need to call our caseworkers.” Brian redirected, “I’ll call mine now, you should do the same.”   
             “Ah, yeah.  Good luck.”   
             “Goodbye, Dan.”  Brian hung up, Dan sighing afterward and working to get Jackson on the phone.   
  
               _“Brian, I can’t feel you anymore, you need to talk to me…”  Dan reached out to rub the man’s back.  “Or let me in…”_ _  
_ _“I’m sorry…” Brian murmured, “I don’t like this…”  he reached back and gripped Dan’s wrist, “I’ve never felt like this before.  I don’t know what it is, I can’t…”  Brian groaned, his face contorting as he felt moisture coming to his eyes, “What’s happening?”_ _  
_ _“You’re crying…” Dan tried to pull him closer, but was disappointed when Brian pushed him away instead, “I don’t like this either.”  He settled where he was, realizing Brian needed space…  He had never needed space from Dan before.  Maybe it was a human thing.  The disturbing thing about that, however, was that Brian_ **_wasn’t_ ** _human.  “Are you okay?”_ _  
_ _“I don’t know…  It’s like I’m--how to say it?  Like I’ve realized I’ve lost something and my life is over and I can’t stop thinking of Rachel, and I’m not sure what to do?”  He looked to Dan helplessly._ _  
_ _“Brian… Is Harold still in there?”  Dan tipped his head curiously to the side._ _  
_ _“I can’t feel him…  There’s not the filter of another consciousness, but I’ve--you’ve heard me talk, it’s very different from other people not being present.”_ _  
_ _“I can’t experience what you are, I’m…  I-I wish I wasn’t so powerless to help.”_ _  
_ _“It’s not your fault.” Brian wiped the tears out of his eyes, pushing back the urge to sniffle as he felt his nose clogging with that mucusy stuff that humans seemed to constantly produce--and occasionally spray everywhere in an attempt to clear airways.  “I talked to Gerald about pursuing Rachel…”_ _  
_ _“You did?  How did that go?”_ _  
_ _“I would have to take on Harold’s life if I did.”_ _  
_ _“Okay…” Dan wrinkled his brow, “What was he like?”_ _  
_ _“He has a PhD,” Brian shrugged, “just we’ll have to change what it’s in and do some, eh…  Resume re-writing.  Though…  They tell me that Rachel’s prior knowledge of Harold’s skillset will present a problem in such endeavors.  So…  There will need to be some lying on my part.”_ _  
_ _“What will you be telling her when you find her?” Dan blinked, “Her husband’s body just up and vanished from a hospital--or she opted to dispose of it!”_ _  
_ _Brian then growled, “That’s the thing, she doesn’t know it’s gone.  She hasn’t visited the hospital in a few days.”  Both men remained quiet for a few seconds as the implications of that set in._ _  
_ _“And they had asked if_ **_I_ ** _understood moral consequences of you taking on bodies.”_ _  
_ _Brian nodded and moved to stand from the couch they were sitting on, “I’m supposed to wake up in the hospital tomorrow, I thought you should know that I’m leaving…  And all my things go to you for now.”_ _  
_ _“Oh…”  Dan’s hair deflated even flatter against his shoulders, “I see… And… Will…  I’ve not been without you in,” he began to panic a little, “almost twenty years, Bryrrna!  I…”_ _  
_ _“I know, I know.  It’s only temporary.” He reached out to touch Dan’s face, but that didn’t seem to be all he wanted to do, “This body inhibits me as much as it delights me.” Brian muttered, “I want to kiss you, but something tells me to not.”_ _  
_ _“I should have figured as much…”  Dan lifted his hand to lay it over Brian’s, leaning into the contact from his friend, “I feel so distant from you.”_ _  
_ _“The same…  It’s very unsettling.  You know that.”  Brian shook his head, “This isn’t natural for our kind, I know.”  As if growing uncomfortable, he removed his hand out from under Danny’s, “Will you meld with me next time you go for repairs?”_ _  
_ _“Yes, of course.” Danny nodded vigorously, likewise feeling that inexplicable pain of loss.  His friend was right here, but separate and different; his insides scrambled for the connection that they had held for so long, but, as he had somewhat grown used to the past few months, there was just the thin, barely-perceptible bond._ _  
_ _As if he didn’t even notice, Brian checked his watch, “I have to go for briefing and paperwork in about twenty minutes, is there anything you need from me?”_ _  
_ _Dan blinked and reached up to him, “Can you…  Ehm, cuddle with me?”  Never before had Dan felt so self-conscious about such a request, but Brian’s behavior as of the past three days was anything but predictable._ _  
_ _“I…  Suppose I can, yes.”  Brian moved to sit down next to him again, body tense as Dan moved to put his arms around him.  “I’m sorry… I don’t know why I’m like this.”_ _  
_ _“I know, it’s not your fault.”_ _  
_ _  
_ “This…  Interplanetary dispute…”  Jackson began after listening to Danny’s request.  This meeting had been labeled an “emergency,” so Jackson was in his pajamas, in his office, on base at one in the morning.  Meeting at his apartment with Barry living there was absolutely out of the question and due to the nature of this visit, nothing public was allowed.   
             “I believe it’s bigger than interplanetary, the urgency of this summons tells me it’s more of an _intergalactic_ issue.”  Dan corrected.   
             “Does it pose any kind of threat to Earth?”  Jackson turned his attention for just a second as he heard voices out in the hall as well as a door opening and closing.   
             “I cannot know that from here.  This dispute is taking place in a system--or five systems--a few light years away.”  A “few” light years, even then, was a very relative term, “The systems together are called an Industrial Cluster.”   
             “Yes, I’ve had previous clients that have mentioned it.   _Does_ this relate to Earth?” Jackson continued to push, needing all the information he could get on how much of a threat this could potentially be.   
             “Intergalactic…  As in, a dispute between galaxies.  Earth is _in_ the same galaxy as this Industrial Cluster.  You are out in the middle of nowhere, however…  You’re classified as an underdeveloped--”   
             “In your opinion.”   
             “By most alliance opinions, you are underdeveloped.” Dan firmly asserted, geez, humans really had a problem accepting that they just weren’t on par with the rest of their galaxy yet.  Boy, that sure would’ve been fixed in a fucking hurry if they just chose to talk to absolutely _anyone_ !  “Most will see you as too insignificant to bother with.  However, this means that possible fugitives will come to this planet to hide.”  As Dan was already well-aware of was actually happening…  In retrospect, given how humans were horrible at handling situations like this…  He probably shouldn’t have said that.  “Force is only ever a last resort.  However, I’m being summoned and force will remove both myself and Bryrrna if it is necessary.”   
             “Are you seeking protection from these forces?”   
             “No, I’m asking for clearance to appear before this…  Court of sorts.”  Dan tapped his fingers on the table.  “It is my duty to this galaxy as well as my home galaxy.”   
             “Will you be appearing on Earth’s behalf?”   
             “No, my own.  Shortly before coming to live here, I was out with my travel partner--Bryrrna--and while asking for clearance to land we witnessed a group of ships leaving planet.  That was three years ago.”   
             “And they’re just now contacting you about this…?”   
             “Ah…  Travelers like myself are hard to find and send messages to.  The universe is huge, after all.  I suspect they’ve been searching for us for at least a year.”  Then Dan hummed, “Or, it’s only just now that things have escalated to the point of needing my account.”  He did a little more thinking before shaking his head and shrugging, “I don’t know, I’ve not been in contact with anyone off this planet in a very long time.”   
             “As per your agreement, yes.”  Dan watched Jackson sift through some instructionals, apparently this wasn’t a very common circumstance.  “I’ll put in a request immediately.  I’ll also advise that whomever is in charge of Brian’s file likewise grant clearance.”   
             “Thank you.”   
             “Are you excited?”  Jackson then asked with a smile.   
             “Hah, a little…  But this is basically the equivalent of being called to testify in court.”  Dan thought for a second more on things he’d need to bring with him.  Oh…  And Arin…  However, that was a worst-case scenario.  HOpefully, all of this could get resolved without needing to involve him.  Dan knew, inside, somewhere, that wasn’t going to be easy.  He could aspire though.  He sure could.   
***   
             “I met with Gerald, who got a message from Jackson during our meeting.” Brian sat with Dan at the Grump Space the next day.  They both had opted to arrive early to beat everyone else.  “Did you respond to the summons?”   
             “Not yet, I can’t get the damned warp-pad to work.” Dan grumped, “All the organisms in it must be dying.”   
             “You haven’t been feeding your things?”   
             “Hey, everything onboard _you_ still works, so my hand-held things are less important.”  Dan was not ordinarily snippy, but yesterday’s events upset him greatly.   
             “I’m testing my engines and wings today.”  Brian informed, not seeming incredibly pleased with it.  “You’ll have to take care of my body.”   
             “What are you going to tell Rachel?  Are you going into a coma, or…  Or are you just bringing this with you?” Dan tapped Brian’s bare forearm.   
             “I haven’t decided yet…  Do you want me to send a response to the summons?  Chances are I have it in my systems on backlog, somewhere.”   
             “No, I’ll do it.  I’ll get something to work.  The warp-pad probably just needs sunlight.”   
             “Don’t wait too long.  They might send a crew after us.”   
             “Right, yeah…”  Dan stood as he heard the door to the space open and close, but relaxed when he saw Ross shuffling in, making his usual morning face.  “Hey man…  Brian and I got some shit to lay down.”   
  
             “Could I come with you to fulfill that whole third life form thing?” Ross offered after the situation had been “laid down” before him.  “I am from Earth and I look mostly human, and I’m sure this… Council, or whatever, has seen a kriranrk before.”   
             “The problem is, they will know we’re lying if we do that.” Brian presented, “It also doesn’t help the ‘abduction’ problem.  You are classified as a natural Earth citizen.”   
             “Well, you can’t take Arin with you.  That’s too much bullshit for you both to go through again.”  Ross basically parrotted back everything that Dan and Brian had to say on that situation.   
             “Short of a worst-case scenario, it’s not happening either way and we’re just going to have to find something to say that’s not a lie--”  Dan said, but Brian cut in at the last moment with, “And won’t get you arrested.”   
             “You’re in a pickle, aren’t you.” Ross observed, leaning his face into his hand.   
             “And not the sexy kind of pickle either.” Dan complained, spinning around in his chair with aggravation.   
             “What’s the worst-case scenario here?”  Ross questioned, “Just humor me.”   
             “That the Industrial Cluster invades Earth to find us…” Dan flatly answered, still staring at the beams of the ceiling.  “Which would present more than just problems for the humans…”  He thought back to the Elder gekur that was still roaming free in the naval base…  His studies concerning the Gekur on Earth were not entirely promising.  So far he had been able to locate around fifteen of them in the system for America, but how many there were worldwide, he could not say.   
             “That seems extreme…”   
             “They take their justice really seriously.  The grand councilman is a Lodorian.” Dan mumbled, “If you ever need rules recited to a T, you just ask one of them.”  He then sat up straight to see the confused expression on Ross’s face, “Oh, right, you don’t know who that is.”  Dan then grumbled, going into explanation mode, “The nearest Industrial Cluster is made up of five united planets.  They all speak a standardized language, however, each planet, naturally, has its own languages and dialects thereof.”  Dan cleared his voice as Brian sat down and nestled his fingers together, silent.  “Those five planets are Taeotquin, Cazty, Irapraxiis, Solgir and Lodora.  Thankfully, I have extensive experience with most of these planets…”  Irapraxiis was the problem one, given how unwelcoming the Kriranrk tended to be, “While every planet has a say in this council, the head councilman for the past century has always been from Lodora.  They only have stirrings of emotion once every…” Dan did some converting, “Equivalent to five and a half Earth years.  They, otherwise, operate on a logical level and cannot connect to, or understand the emotions of others outside of this frame of time that lasts for about nine months.”   
             Ross stared, dumbfounded, “That’s…  A problem.”   
             “Not to them and it keeps the councilman’s decisions fair and makes it nearly impossible for them to be swayed if adequate logical evidence can’t be presented.”  Dan looked to Brian, “If this problem is as big as we believe, however, I suspect we will find more than those five planets present at the court.  Our own planetary ambassadors might be there.”   
             “Is that a problem?” Ross raised an eyebrow.   
             “Ah… Well…” Dan looked to Brian again before back to Ross, “There’s a matter that… Ah…  We sort of, or I sort of…  Reported an Elder gekur living here to my planet…  It’s been three years since and--”   
             “Am I supposed to know what that is?” Ross inserted before Dan could go much farther into that explanation.  This lead to Dan being silent for a few seconds and just deciding, “You know what, never mind.  It’s not that important, moving along.”   
             “Okay…”  Ross shifted, a little uncomfortable at Dan’s uncharacteristically harsh tone.  Dan only got this way when under extreme duress--or after Ross had just hit him in the face with a dodgeball without explanation--”When are you telling Arin about leaving?  He’s not in today, but I know that’s a stupid reason to not tell him.”   
             “No, it can wait until tomorrow.”   
             “Dan…” Brian cautioned, “Waiting is not advised.”   
             “Fine, fuck, whatever, I’ll tell him when I tell him.  Okay?”   
             “Do you want me to tell him?” Brian then offered.   
             “No!  I’ll do it, lay off.” Dan’s usual methods of self-soothing weren’t working, this whole mess was beyond his control and beyond any of his training.  “Barry is going to be here soon, just get that all set-up, I have to go do repairs on Brian’s body anyway.” Danny stood, Ross watching him with an unreadable expression.   
             “I’ll go with you…”  Brian decided, “We can kill two birds with one stone that way.”   
             Dan didn’t answer, grabbing his things and exiting the Grump Space.   
  
             “ _Lyrda, you can try to be calmer about this…”_  Brian reached out to Dan as he ran a structural inspection of the ydyrn’s insides.  This was the feeling they both waited long weeks for.  This feeling of wholeness again.  Dan supposed that he really needed the prolonged separation from his partner to really respect how comforting the connection was when he had it.  Even with his separation from Arin, he still had Brian, no matter how far apart they sometimes seemed.   
             “How can I be calm when this is fucking everything up?” Dan crudely responded, noting where an incongruity was on Brian’s lowest deck.  “Not just for me, but you too?  And this involves Arin, I can’t just…”  He grumbled, stepping down off his platform and passing the exam table that held Brian’s human body in stasis.   
              _“I am largely indifferent past a certain point.”_  Brian explained, _“Apart from that body, human affairs concern me very little.”_   
             “Except for very specific things.” Dan lit up his body as he stepped into the long, dark hallway to find the chutes that lead to the lower decks.   
              _“As always, you are my priority.”_   
             “Well, not always.  You know I’m fine with that.”  Dan hopped into the deep hole in the floor, attaching several of his glowing arms to the rungs about the inside of it to lower himself down slowly.   
              _“It is a difficult situation for me to be in.  Everything was black and white before.”_   
             “For me too, I have Arin.”   
              _“I understand why it is best that my augmentations do not allow for brooding.”_   
             Dan laughed as he dropped to the lowest deck, “Other than you would be popping out little whales every two cycles?”   
              _“There is that as well.”_  Brian admitted with two great pulses of humor.   _“Do you suppose the Far Depths are empty these days?”_ _  
_ “I don’t know.  Maybe we’ll get the chance to see if anyone moved in.”   
              _“Perhaps.  If time is allowing.  I would not object to seeing your progenitors again.”_   
***   
             The next day started bright and early, “Arin, I’m going to be, em, going away for awhile with Brian.”   
             “Kay, how long?” Arin questioned, still in his bright pink Hello Kitty pajama pants.   
             “No idea…  I can’t really explain it either.”   
             “Uhm, okay dude.  You do you, whatever it is…  You’re coming back though, right?”   
             “Yes!  For sure!  I just…  Don’t know when.  There are a lot of, uh, variables here.”  Like whether or not Dan was going to try to visit his parents after all of this courtly nonsense was over and done with.  Then again, how long was the “courtly nonsense” going to take?  He could very well end up imprisoned upon some asteroid in the kuiper belt of another star system.   
             “That’s okay.  Just, you know, keep us updated and stuff.  Ross and Barry can keep on with Steam Train and I can do stuff with them too while you’re gone.  It’ll be like practice for a full Ninja Sex Party tour, right?”  Arin grinned, being as optimistic as possible.   
             “Awesomesauce!” Danny likewise grinned.   
             “When do you and Bri leave?” Arin continued on with making his breakfast, putting a cup of oatmeal in the microwave.   
             “A couple days.” Dan informed hopefully, “we have to get where we’re going sooner than later…  He has, uh, more stuff to sort through first, though.”  This was far less painful than Dan had anticipated.  Arin made things so…  Dan could sigh wistfully over Arin for decades and his affections remain undiminished.  Arin just was…  “You’re awesome, man.”   
             “Yeah, I know.” Arin chuckled.   
             “I could, like, kiss you.” Dan prodded, not really lying.   
             “Ooooh, I wouldn’t say ‘no.’” Arin playfully giggled.   
             “No one would say ‘no’ to these luscious pillows.” Dan puckered his lips and winked at Arin before both men laughed.  The microwave then dinged and Dan pressed a kiss to Arin’s cheek.   
             “Oh, you.” Arin batted him away, still playing along.  His heart was set on his food, however.  As it so often was, and Dan found it all the more adorable with time.  Even as he shoveled cereal, sticky deliciousness into his mouth, he was the most captivating creature in all the universe.   
             Mmm…  Dan looked at his lips and remembered the things he had said.  He remembered what Arin had done to him with those lips…  All the sexual moans and just…  It had been years, but for a being with an eidetic memory, it was still like it was yesterday.   
              “You okay, man?” Arin interrupted with a mouthful of hot, cinnamon oatmeal.   
              “Oh, psssh, yeah.  Just hungry.”   
              “I’m sure we got, uh…  Leftovers in the fridge, or macaroni.”  Arin stuffed more into his mouth and walked to the fridge.  As the two men stood around the appliance, trying to find the proper sustenance for Dan, they both heard stumbling noises…   
             “Geez, what’s Ross doing in there?” Arin wondered, looking to the door to the offices on the other side of the room.  He got his answer as the door flung open, blood trickling down Ross’s forehead from his hairline.   
             “Dan!  Get in here, now!” Ross shouted as Arin gasped.   
             “Dude!  What happened?!”  Arin scrambled for the first aid kit underneath the sink.  Thank fuck Suzy had remembered to restock the damn thing.   
             “Not important, Arin!” Ross declared, Dan heading for the office without question.  Arin stumbled after him with alcohol wipes, gauze, Band-Aids, gloves and burn salve instead of ointment.  “Put those down.”   
              “You’re bleeding from your fucking head!” Arin pushed Ross back into the offices as Dan stood, dumbfounded, before the television.   
             “It doesn’t hurt, don’t worry about it.”  Ross bumped back onto one of the many desks.  When Arin went to swab his forehead clean, Ross caught his arm.  Dan was still having his moment, eyes bulging out of his fabricated skull.   
             “Ross,” Dan squeaked, “Ross…”   
             “Yeah!  I know!” Ross shouted back, still staving off Arin’s rabid attempts to clean his face.   
             “What are we going to do…?”  Dan’s puff of hair was deflated, flat around his shoulders.   
             “I don’t know…”  Ross had since given up and let Arin clean off the blood from his face.   
             “What are you two even talking about?”  Arin questioned, finally turning to look at the television.  “What movie is this?   _Independance Day_ ?”   
             “Independance Day mostly takes place in DC, Arin.” Dan pointed out, voice stoic.   
             “But weren’t there scenes shot in LA?”  Arin shrugged and moved on, “Or is this _Battle: Los Angeles_ ?”  Arin watched on the television as a series of evident, non-Earth crafts hovered above the LA skyline…  “I don’t remember it being a found footage film.”   
             “Dude, this is the news…”  Ross informed, “This isn’t a movie, those are _real_ .”   
             “What?”  Arin blew a raspberry, “No, that’s impossible.  This is some kind of _War of the Worlds_ , H.G. Wells shit.”  Arin went stiff as he heard the air raid sirens start up outside…  “Dude, let’s get to the roof.”   
             Dan didn’t register that Arin had said anything at all until Ross shouted, “No!  Arin!  Wait!”  With a surge of energy, Dan took off after Arin, his phone ringing in his pocket.  As he skid out of the Grump Space, into the hallway of the building he was in, he answered it, “What?!“   
             “Whose ships are these?”  Brian’s voice came over the line.   
             “I don’t know, I don’t know ship models!  That’s your expertise, man!  Professional spaceship!”   
             “Did something happen?”   
             “Everything is happening.  I’ll get back to you in a second.  I have to deal with this!”  Dan hung up the phone and stood before the stairwell of the building.  Damn, Arin’s trips to the gym were really paying off!  He was up a few flights of stairs with Ross panting after him.  Taking a risk, and his phone beginning to ring again, Dan expanded his body proportions like rubber to pull himself up a few flights at a time to catch up with Arin.  He made it to the top just as Arin exited to the rooftop, the door closing after him.   
             “Shit,” Dan shook his head and took the call again, “Brian, I already told you--”   
             ”You didn’t answer the fucking summons did you!?” Brian shouted over the line before Dan could hang up again “I can’t believe you fucking--”   
             “Yell at me later!  I have to catch Arin!”  Dan ended the call again, Ross finally catching up and looking like he was about to die.   
             “I’m okay!” Ross declared as Dan dismissed him and exited the building after Arin.   
             “Arin, wait!” Dan bolted after his friend, the shadow of a conical and sandy-colored ship cast over their building.   
             “Whoa....”  Arin’s mouth hung open, staring up at the massive ship.  Dan had seen that face before, the face of realizing everything he had ever known had now changed.  Goddammit, alien invaders, stealing his fucking thunder!  He was supposed to make that face for Dan!  Not you!  Oh, hell, whatever, back to business.   
             “Arin, you can’t stay out here.”  More importantly _he_ couldn’t stay out here.  “Come on!” He grabbed Arin’s arm and tugged, not wanting to hurt him.   
             “Dan!”  Arin turned his head to his friend, blubbering for a second in excited fear, “Aliens!” WIth a dramatic finger, he stabbed it up at the sky.  “They’re real!” He shouted over the loud hum of the rotating inner column above them.   
             “Yea, Arin, that’s cool, we have to **go** !” Dan pulled him again, still hesitant to use his full strength.  Arin continued to fight him, however, staring up into the glowing, blue structure that gave off the hum.  In general, they were making quite a scene.  “Arin!  We are fucking going inside **now** !”  Dan’s efforts proved fruitless, and, in the end, both turned their faces skyward as two other ships joined the one, “Oh, shit.”   
             “Dan…  I think we have to go…”  Arin finally realized a little too late with a swallow.  He began to step away, but paused as one ship put out a loud, garbled series of noises. “Dan, come on!”  Arin now tried to drag Dan away as the noises came again.   
             Dan sighed, shaking his head as he easily identified the language as standard Solgirian.  This ship was definitely here for him.  Roughly, the sounds being expelled from all three ships simultaneously meant “Are you Lyrdaanaavydaa~ly~Bixyaalaan of Vysvaa?  Respond!”  Arin tried to pull Dan one more time before both men levitated beneath the blue cone.  Dan pulled Arin close to his body, pressing his face into him and squeezing as they were overtaken by bright, white lights.


	2. Symphony 1:  Movement I:  I Found Space

             < _Ta’kua viskrian nillidah_ ?! >   
             Arin heared, his head hurting as he realized he was laying on his stomach.  For a moment, he could’ve swore he was listening to some sort of bastardized Scandinavian language…  Oh no, was the alien thing all fabricated and he had just been severely hit in the head?!   
             < _Jarketti neh dah! > _  This mystery voice sure was laying into whomever was on the receiving end; damn he felt sorry to be those people.  He didn’t understand the words, but the language of anger seemed almost universal--he knew enough to know someone was having a new asshole ripped for them.  < _Kwah!  Kitiriamaniaiim! Etayeery kolotuba fir de kiskiri norukiriki! Kwah, de fiskdoria_ ! >  and the voice fell silent to some muted mumbles from different voices.  < _Mmng…  Doru nika fa de dah_ . >  Arin finally sat up, determined to figure out what this language was.  It was nothing like he had ever heard before and he had to see just _who_ was speaking it.  Carefully lifting his pounding head, he saw a bright, shining, white being pointing at him with a long finger.   
             “Shit…”  Arin gasped, inching away from the bright creature that, ostensibly, must’ve been the screaming one.  What was it screaming about?  Was it an alien?  It had to be…  Had he done something wrong?!  He looked around for Dan, but found no one of that description, instead, he found beings dissimilar to the glowing one.  They had two eyes, green-brown scales, a blunt muzzle and stood upright.  They reminded Arin of geckos--only a little, and if those geckos’ faces had abruptly met a frying pan or window pane.   
              < _Grideer vah_ ? > One motioned to Arin with a paw.   
             [ **Xi** t--- **Aa** ryn] The white light died instantly and was replaced with a deep red.  Arin didn’t like that…  Red was very rarely good.  At the same time…  Arin knew he shouldn’t be afraid.  This was not a color of anger, but rather…  Why was the only emotion coming to mind “worry?”  The two round protrusions on the gelatinous, galaxy-being turned from Arin in the following moment to the horde of lizardmen.   < _Etvar korre vah._ >  Whatever it said, the lizardmen seemed please with this.  This only served to confuse Arin more…  Also, it made him worry about the health of his backside more as well, but that was beside the main worry here.   
             < _Bah korrakeka sorrudu piskite_ ? > One of the lizardmen spoke, continuing the conversation with the being of multi-colored light.  Arin groped for anything he could understand.  Naturally, this was a futile venture, these things weren’t _from_ Earth.  How could he hope to understand any of this?   
               < _Nah de ka liliki._ > the color-changing jellyfish-thing answered softly, stepping towards Arin.  It paused for a short moment as Arin sat up from his stomach and began to back away, it turned a deep purple…  Why did Arin feel like shit suddenly?   
             “It will be okay.”  A voice in Arin’s head told him…  Was it… Coming from the thing looking at him?  That seemed the only logical progression here, but _fuck_ it was freaky!  Arin jumped as the voice came again, “You will be returned soon…  But be ready to leave again.”  At least it spoke English.   
             “W-What are you?” Arin stammered, barely finding his voice, “Where’s the other guy?” he looked to the space next to him where he had been expecting to find Dan.   
             The deep purple turned black at the question, it seemed more downtrodden than ever before…  Arin wished he knew why, though all he cared about was getting out of here with Dan, “Do not worry.” It spoke to him again, “He will be with you…  He is why they came here.” It waved an inky arm at the other aliens on board.  “It will all make sense, I promise.”   
             “Dan…  Did this?”  Arin mused to himself, but pointed to the general state of the ship, his confusion palpable and fear just as so.   
             “It is complicated.” It curled away from Arin as if it had been stung, “I will retrieve him…  Let him explain.”  It gave the lizardmen a pointed look and barked a couple of syllables before moving to leave.  Arin called after it, “Wait!  Um…  Who… Or…  What are you?”  The human couldn’t deny that there was something captivating about the ever-shifting quality of the creature’s skin.   
             The alien stopped at the questions, peering back to him.  Its head, covered in many short, tentacle-like tendrils tipped to the side.  The tendrils curled around one another and perked up as the black of its starry body lightened to purple, “My designation is Lyrdaanaavydaa.”  It waited for a second…  As if expecting something.  When Arin just nodded, face as clueless as ever, it shook its head and turned away again, striding--or was it sliding?--down a hallway out of the rotunda-esque room.   
             In the few minutes that Arin was left alone, he drew his knees up to his chest and looked over to the collection of lizard people.  He didn’t know what was going to happen, but…  The jellyfish had gone to fetch Dan, so, clearly there wasn’t anything immediately threatening happening.  He brought his staring to an end, however, when one of the creatures turned its attention to Arin.  Growing tenser, Arin looked away, starting to sweat as he took to examining the inside of the ship.   
              There were runes written around consoles, knobs and levers.  Glowing panels displayed read-outs of a language Arin had never seen before.  One one screen in particular, he recognized a floating hologram of sorts, displaying the jellyfish that had just left.  It appeared to be the same one, Arin had no way of knowing as the runes that floated by the image were different even from the ones written on consoles.  As Arin examined these features, one of the creatures spoke to a screen which spoke back.   
             He blinked and peered over at the new activity, the lizard appeared to be speaking to a _very_ large centipede.  It had two long, sectional, yellow antennae, around ten eyes and spoke the same language that the lizards did.  Or, Arin _assumed_ it was the same as the two things appeared to be having a conversation.  It was the last thing Arin would expect to hear out of something that looked like _that_ , he would have thought it would make “krirk” noises or something.   
             “Arin!”  Dan’s voice came from the hallway as he hurried into the room looking no worse for wear.   
             “Dan!”  Arin lept to his feet, the lizardmen looking back to them both as the one carried on its report with the centipede.  Putting his arms out, he inspected Dan intensely, “What happened?  Where were you? Why are we here?!  What the _fuck_ is happening?!”   
             “Calm down, calm down, we’re fine.” Dan soothed, looking over to the collection of extraterrestrials.  Their commander had finished sending word about the “apprehension” of the “fugitives.”  Geez, really?  Forget to respond to jury duty and suddenly you were “criminals,” logic.  < _Graah_ ! >  Dan called over to the group, startling Arin and prompting his eyeballs to nearly bulge out of his head. < _Tovarah bah mikkurintakku_ ? >   
             “Dan, what are you doing?” Arin whispered quickly, still stunned by the syllables coming out of his mouth.  “What are you saying?!”   
             “I’m getting us out of here.  Hold your horses.”  Keeping a firm hold on Arin’s arm for the man’s comfort, Dan stood up tall as the biggest of the lizard aliens approached them.   
             “But how are you--”   
             “Shh,” Dan didn’t redirect his eyes from the big lizard as the ship’s captain came to stand before him.   
             “ _Yes, Doctor_ ?” Essentially summed up Graah’s question.   
             “ _Graah, this is Arin…  As I mentioned earlier, he was the third life form with my ship and I._ ”  Dan then nudged Arin, switching to English “Give the captain a ‘hello’ wave, do not smile.  This one’s name is Graah.”   
             Arin and Graah both regarded each other in the next moment, Arin swallowed and raised his hand, “H-Hi…”  Graah, meanwhile, tipped their head to the floor, making eye-contact with Arin as they mumbled the equivalent of “I am honored by your attention.”   
             “ _Graah, if you will excuse my outburst earlier, it was unprofessional, but you must understand my reasoning…_ ”  Dan began again as Graah redirected their attention back to him.   
             “ _In the past, Doctor._ ”  They assured, “ _We will need to procure your partner as well._ ”   
             “ _Ah…  About that…_ ”  Dan murmured, looking to Arin for a second as the man picked at the sleeve cuff of his shirt, “What?”   
             “Don’t you ‘what’ me.  What are you saying?” Arin huffed, standing closer to Dan yet in the shadow of the tall, hulking creature.   
             “I’m negotiating our way off the ship so that we can do what they want another way.” Dan explained.   
             “Why do we have to do what they want?!” Arin interrogated, suddenly furious.   
             “Because it is the only way to get anything done, now, please, _shut up_ .”  Dan watched as Arin’s face went from angry to hurt, though he did care, he didn’t have time for this just because Arin was feeling mouthy and didn’t understand what was happening.  “I’ve done this before.  Trust me, everything is going to be fine.”   
             Arin nodded and stayed silent, more out of bitterness than really a desire to listen. Dan felt his contained rage filter through their skin contact.   
             “ _Graah, forgive the interruption._ ”  Dan restarted.   
             “ _This terran seems confrontational._ ”  Graah commented, a paw getting a little jumpy towards their back waist holster.   
             “ _My_ **_mate_ ** _is concerned is all._ ”   
             Graah’s facial scales lost color for a moment, “ _My_ **_sincerest_ ** _apologies Doctor._ ” Their hand remained firmly at their side from that point forward.   
             “ _No offense taken_ .” Dan eased, “ _As I said earlier, my partner and I were unaware of the missive that we were sent until roughly two rotations ago--most likely post your fleet’s departure from the Cluster.  We are not unwilling to be escorted by you to the court.  I would like to request that my mate and I be returned to the surface to locate my partner and depart Earth inside them._ ”   
             Graah seemed pensive, looking over the two for a few moments as they considered their options.   
            “ _You have my signature anyway, you will be able to locate myself and my mate easily on the surface if need be…_ ”  Dan added for extra security.  He had no intention of betraying the Solgirian fleet.   
             “ _Proposition accepted._ ”  Graah scraped the inside scales of their left paw and turned to swiftly explain the situation to the rest of their crew.   
             “Okay, we’re good.”  Dan sighed, visibly relaxing.  Arin still remained silent, “Come on, dude, you knew this was a sensitive situation.  Are you _really_ mad at me?”   
             “No, but…  What the fuck is happening?” Arin grumbled, watching the lizard aliens go about their business.   
             “They’re sending us back in a minute, but we won’t be able to stay.”  Dan quickly explained before remembering something, “Oh, wait,”  Arin listened to him rattle off some more alien words to the group before them.  It would never cease to amaze him that the things he was saying were actually an existing language understood by a race of lizards…  Arin backed up again when an alien, not Graah, approached them and put something into Dan’s outstretched hand.  Dan responded with what was basically a “thank you” before guiding Arin onto a glowing, blue pad.   
             An uncomfortable buzzing feeling across his skin and a bright light and Arin--along with Dan--was back on the top of the office building.  Arin blinked and looked around, all of the ships were clustered around one another over this one particular building.  News crews were stationed below and… Right to their left…   
             “Well…”  Dan then noticed the news crews… Who also noticed them…  “Run.”  Dan grabbed Arin’s hand and bolted for the door as someone yelled after them “Tell us what just happened!”  The two men made it to the rooftop door, enabling them to slam it behind them both and hold it shut.  They locked the door with a flick of the paddle-shaped latch--they were sure the news crews would get down by themselves _somehow_ .  Though, with this newfound security…   
             “Start talking!”  Arin demanded, “Why can you talk to them?!  How do they know you?!”   
             “Arin, I have a lot to do and very little time to do it.”  Dan stepped away from the locked door, going for the stairwell, “Wait and I will answer _any_ questions you have.”  He tried to start down the stairs but Arin latched onto his arm and held firm.  The sounds of the reporters pounding against the metal door in the background.  “We don’t have time for this, dude.”   
             ”No, this has aliens!  Fess up!”   
             Dan made a screeching noise like Arin had never heard before in the back of his throat, “ _Please_ , Arin, this is really important and involves you!”   
             “What?!  Me?!  But I didn’t know--” The other alien had said much the same though.   
             “I already said I’ll explain later.  We _have_ to go.”  Dan stared him dead in the face, pleading with him.  “This is _bigger_ than just these guys visiting Earth.”   
             “O…  Okay…”  Arin nodded.  “So…  Aliens.  I have something to do with aliens…?”   
             “Yes, come on.”  Dan dragged Arin down the stairs.   
             Once on the ground floor, they passed Ross.   
             “Dude!  Aliens!” Arin declared.   
             “Yes, Arin, I know.” Ross waved him off, holding his phone to his ear.  “Yes, Brian, he’s right here…  Okay, fine.”  Ross hung up the phone and looked to Dan.  “Brian says to just go to the base.  He’s on his way now.”   
             “Great.”  Dan breathed a sigh of relief, one less thing to worry about.  Arin, however, looked between the two frantically.   
             “Brian too?!  And you, Ross?!”  Arin gestured widely--violently--with his hands, “Am I the _only_ one that _didn’t_ know about this shit?!”   
             “No, just the three of us.” Ross shrugged.  “You two need to get going.  I’m guessing Dan has already told you that you’re involved.”   
             Arin reached up into his hair as he shrieked “Why does **everyone** but me know I’m involved?!”   
             “Too complicated for me to explain.  Dan will do it.”  Ross passed off.   
             “What.  The.   **_Fuuuuuuuuuuuck_ ** ?!”   
             Dan leaned away as Arin broke down, clearing his voice after the screaming had subsided, “Okay, dude, less scream, more run.”   
             “But, but, but--”   
             “I don’t have time for this!”  Dan finally raised his voice, frustrated beyond belief and there was just only one way to fix this.  He scooped Arin up into his arms with ease, much to the surprise and general upset of Arin, “C’mon!  Bye Ross!”   
              “Bye, see you soon.  Have fun in space.” Ross waved with his fingers as Dan bolted from the building and out to the street to find his car.   
             “Dan!  Put me down!” Arin demanded.   
             “No!  This way we can still go and you can freak out!”   
             “You have _so_ much fucking explaining to do!” Arin shouted as Dan deposited him in front of the passenger side door.   
             “Yep!  Get in!”  As Arin did as directed, Dan dashed around to the other side of the car and climbed in, “It’s going to have to wait though!”  Inserting the key into the steering column, Dan started his car.  As he tried to pull away from the curb, however, he realized that driving was going to be damn near impossible.  So many people had stopped and _stepped out_ of their cars to document the event of all that Solgirian ships looming over the city.   
             “Where are we going?  Can you at least answer that!?” Arin frantically asked as Dan opted to honk his horn and profusely apologize to citizens as he drove onto the sidewalk in order to circumnavigate the living roadblocks.   
              “Naval base.” Dan cryptically responded, sighing as he had to apologize out his window some more.  “It’s going to take awhile to get there.”  Nearly two hours if _this_ kind of traffic held up.   
             “Okay, good, start talking.”   
             Dan frowned, feeling his Bond to Arin quiver inside of him, “Okay, fine…  But, be specific.  There’s too much going on here for vague, yeah.”   
             “Let’s start with… Uh…  Why aren’t you surprised about all this?”   
             “To say I’m not surprised is wrong, but, I knew they were coming.  Kind of.  Not really, but, yeah.” He shrugged.   
             “Why didn’t…  You ever say you knew about aliens?”   
             “I am legally obligated to keep my mouth shut.”   
             “Have you worked for the government this whole time?!”   
             “No.  I hate most everything to do with this government’s treatment of extraterrestrials.”   
             “You spoke--”   
             “Solgirian, yeah.”  Less than a half-hour into their journey and Dan was already getting tired of this  He _loved_ answering Arin’s questions before, but, those questions were genuinely interesting in those days.   
             “You know it’s fucking _name_ !  How are you so blase about this?!”  Arin clearly couldn’t connect Dan’s calmness to the situation in any way, shape, or form.   
             “One question at a time!”  Dan cautioned, finally getting to an onramp that was as _equally_ crowded as the nearly dead-locked city streets.  People pulled over on the sides of the road at least, phones and other recording devices out.  Dan’s hair whipped around his face as wind rushed in through the windows.  The Solgirian ships were moving, drifting in his general direction.  “I’m calm because I have experience with other aliens and I know that the Solgirians are not here to invade.”   
              Arin fumbled for a few seconds as Dan had said a lot in a relatively short method, “Okay, okay, so, are they…”  Arin too looked out the window as the many ships drifted over the city and passed over the highway.  As he watched, he saw fighter jets on the opposite horizon, a whole fleet of them…  That wasn’t good.   
              “The Solgirians are peaceful, part of a, uh…  United States of sorts of other planets in a sector of this galaxy.”   
              “They’re here…  For… You?”  Arin recalled from earlier.   
              “Yes.”  Dan nodded, “And you, and Brian.”   
             “I still don’t get…  Hang on, why Brian again?”   
             “Brian is an alien.” Dan divulged easily.   
             “Whoa!  What?”  However…  “I can’t say I’m… Too surprised…  So, wait, is Audrey, then…?”   
             “She’s human.  Brian’s situation is weird and I don’t want to explain it right now.  We’ll get to that later.”  Dan weaved in and out of traffic, cars were mildly easier to maneuver than the transportation on his homeworld, but three times as terrifying.   
             “Ah, okay, ah…  When did you meet him?  Since he’s an alien.”   
             “I really did meet him when I was in college.”  Dan laughed, “None of that was a lie.  He was a professor where I schooled at.”  Just Brian didn’t _look_ like Brian at that time.   
             “Whoa… Dude…”  Arin ruminated on the new information for a bit, staring out the window as the fighter jets flew by the ships, but seemed to make no attempts at damaging the flying machines.  Then he thought of the captivating creature aboard the Solgirian ship…  What had that been?  It was…  It was so beautiful and had been so familiar and…  “What about the other guy?”   
             “What other guy?”   
            “The glowy-glowy-jiggly guy.”   
             Dan sniggered to himself and shook his head.  C’mon Arin, “glowy-glowy-jiggly guy?”  Dan supposed he should’ve counted his blessings that Arin didn’t find him repulsive now.   
             “They are a scientist, or more of an ambassador these days, I guess.”  He wasn’t sure how well that sat in his stomach to know that that was more of what he could describe himself as these days.  “They are from the Andromeda galaxy.”   
             “Whoooooa,” Arin marveled for what must’ve been the eightieth time that day, going starry-eyed, “Are there, like, alliances across galaxies?”   
             “No, not really.  More of a…  General understanding that none of us will attack unless provoked.”   
             “Of us?” Arin raised an eyebrow.   
             “Oh!  I mean…”   
             “Is Earth in one of these alliances?”   
             “No,” Dan relaxed again, “Earth is a neutral party…   _Willfully_ isolationist more like.”   
             “So…  I guess I should ask how you know about all this?  If you don’t work with the government and…  Did Brian tell you all of this?”  Arin mused out loud, his mind rapidly jumping about, “Does Brian have a space ship?!  Has he taken you places!?  He has, hasn’t he!”  His earnest fascination would never fail to make Dan smile.   
             “Before I met you…”  How he wanted to tell him the honest truth.  He wanted to tell him _everything_ , it was his dream to, someday.  “I was…  An envoy, kind of.”  Just as with the ambassador explanation earlier, it wasn’t entirely true, but it wasn’t false either.  Classes on diplomacy had been required during his years of schooling and he was always told to conduct himself as a representative of his whole planet.  It wasn’t like there hadn’t been times that he had been called upon to settle disputes as it was.   
             Arin’s mouth was agape as he reacted, “This must all be so boring to you!  Having to…  To…  Just play video games an--”   
             “Arin, I _chose_ to abdicate my role.” Dan turned to him, his eyes crinkled with veiled adoration, “I wanted a normal, Earth life.”   _With you…_  He chose not to add.   
             “And they just let you?”   
             Dan nodded, “For the most part, yes.”  The two traveled in relative silence for a period of around ten minutes as Arin digested and Dan fought with himself.  He had already told Arin that Brian was an alien and that Arin was involved in all of this mess.  Why couldn’t he tell him he was also an alien?  The same “glowy-glowy-jiggly guy” from the Solgirian ship?  Arin surely would understand…  He…  He had to…  He would, right?   
             “We’re…  Leaving Earth, aren’t we?”  Arin finally realized.   
             “Yes, we are.”  Dan nodded, getting off at the correct exit to approach the familiar street that lead to the Naval harbor.  “This…  Whole thing takes place in a star system far, far away.”   
             “Am I, like, Luke Skywalker now or some shit?”   
             Dan laughed as they pulled up to a fenced-in checkpoint.  He pulled out his ID, handing it off to the man waiting there.   
             “What about him?” The man gestured, returning Dan’s card that marked him as an inhuman citizen of Earth.   
             “He’s a human civilian of the utmost importance to this.”  Dan reached his arm out of the window and pointed to the hovering Solgirian ships off yonder.  “He does not have clearance or real, working knowledge of the situation, but is necessary to my mission.”  Oh, he sounded so exciting and adventurous!  Not the true nerd he was that listened to too much music from the seventies and eighties as he expounded the cultural importance of eating utensils.   
             “I can’t let him in.  You know the rules.” The man concluded as if he was not to be contested.   
             Dan drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in his palm, “If that’s the case, I need to gain clearance to take off from somewhere that is _not_ on base.”   
             “You know no one will allow that…”   
             “Well,” Dan smiled sweetly to the officer, “I _will_ get on my ship, _with_ him, one way or another.  They” he indicated the ships again, “demand his presence with myself as well as my partner.”  Dan showed him his ID again, “The Ydyrn is my partner, I mean and you _know_ he can come to get me instead.”   
             The soldier stared at Dan, face cold as stone as Arin cringed in fear.  That man had a gun.  He was trained in how to _use_ that gun and they were trespassing on military property if Dan and the man couldn’t reach an agreement.  Arin was not one to basically spit in the face of a member of any national defense branch.  It was sort of inspiring, in a way, when Dan did not waver as if he was _entirely_ accustomed to this sort of situation.   
              In the end, the MP brought a communication piece to his mouth, speaking into it.   
             “Ask for Lieutenant Commander Styles.” Dan instructed before the man could speak.  The MP made a frustrated noise as he brought the piece to his mouth and requested his “back up.”  Dan looked too pleased with himself as he waited and twiddled his thumbs.  Arin, meanwhile, sweated.   
             “You have a ship?” Arin whispered.   
             “Shh, you’re going to be on it.”   
             “That scares me.”   
             “It’s going to be okay.  I’ll be with you.”   
             “You still haven’t told me what I have to do with this.”   
             “I can’t explain now.  Just wait.”   
             Arin had _had it_ with that cop-out answer, “Dan, I’m not agreeing to anything until I know just what the fuck this has to do with me!”   
             “Arin,” Dan frowned, turning to face him and reach his hand out to his.  “Please…” he curled his fingers tenderly around his friend’s, “I need you to trust me.  I’m never going to put you in harm’s way.  I’m begging you, just _go with it_ for now.”   
             The two held eye-contact for a few more silent moments.  The Bond between them resonated within Dan with their physical, intimate touch--with his own kind, this was considered something akin to a kiss.  Dan squeezed Arin’s hand as a black, unmarked car pulled up at the checkpoint.   
             “I trust you.” the human finally whispered.   
             “Thank you.”  If Dan were human, he would’ve had tears in his eyes as he grinned.  The moment of intimacy was intruded upon, however, as a uniformed man in aviator sunglasses approached the car.  Dan sat up straighter, releasing Arin’s hand and leaning out the window to greet this man, “Lieutenant _Commander_ Styles.”   
             “Dan.” Styles nodded, “What a fine day for you to just show up.”   
             “Oh, yeah, I know, such a coincidence.”  As they exchanged their niceties, the fleet of fighter jets passed over them loudly.  Dan would bet money that the anti-aircraft guns were more than at the ready, trained on the alien collective above.   
             “Who’s this?”  Styles motioned into the car once the sound had died away.   
             “This…  This is Arin.”  Dan turned back to look to his friend and Arin smiled sheepishly, “He needs to come with me.”   
             “Arin…”  Styles took his sunglasses off and leaned in through the window.  “Dan’s told me all about you.”  He looked the other human over with critical, blue eyes.  There was something…  Unnerving in his eyes, but Arin couldn’t place what it was.  Something…  Hypnotic almost?  He couldn’t describe it.   
             “Uh,” Arin flushed, “I hope nothing bad…”   
             “No, of course not.”  Styles still held him in eye contact, “Dan doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”   
              _Or bones at all…_  Dan completed Styles’ oft-repeated joke, “I need you to help me get Arin clearance.  He’s…  Involved in all this.”   
             “Is that so?”  Styles questioned, re-placing his sunglasses and retracting himself from the window.  “I hope you know what you’re asking, Danny.”   
             “Yes, I do…”   
             “What are you asking?” Arin hurriedly interrogated under his breath.   
             “Shh, in a minute,” Dan looked back to Styles, “I’d be… Happy to work anything out with you at all.”  A tense moment passed.   
             “I’ll have to escort you both personally.”   
             “Thanks, Lou.” Dan almost appeared to physically melt at the agreement…  Arin was sure he was imagining things.   
             “Hey, you can’t just…”  The protesting MP fell silent as the Lieutenant Commander took his sunglasses off to address him.   
             “These fine boys have very special, Top Secret business, you hear?” Styles gently expounded in a feathery-light voice.   
             “Yessir.”   
             “The utmost discretion is needed in this case.  You have been issued orders from a superior officer and I will vouch for you if you find yourself in trouble for this.  However, I need you to go park this car.”  Styles gestured with his thumb as Dan exited his vehicle.   
             “C’mon Arin.” Dan waved his friend on.   
             “Whoa, wait, what?”  Arin looked between Dan, Styles, the checkpoint guy and the keys in the steering column.  “You’re just--”   
             “It’s all being taken care of.  They’ll drop the keys in my mailbox.  Don’t worry.”  Dan dismissed, watching as Arin hesitantly stepped from the car.   
             “This just seems…”  Arin looked to Styles again as the man issued final orders to the MP.  He stepped closer to Dan and whispered into his ear, “Does he seem a little off to you?”   
             “I’ve got connections, but they’re not worth everything.”  Dan side-stepped the question, “I owe Styles big for this.”  Dan whispered back, “I’m not questioning _anything_ he does.”  Dan took a hold of Arin’s arm and dragged him along into the back of the black car.  “Take us away, Lou!”   
             “I can’t get you to Neverland, but I can at least get you to the ship that can.” Styles giggled a little, stepping away from the MP for him to do as directed.  He entered the driver’s side of the car and pulled away from the checkpoint through the streets of the compound.  Eventually, they came to another checkpoint, Styles beckoning the two he was “chauffeuring” to hand over their IDs.  After some more gentle explaining on Styles’ part, he said, “Arin, step out of the car.”   
             “What?  Why?”  Arin swallowed, nonetheless, moving to open the door.   
             “Just need to make sure you don’t have weapons or recording devices.  The usual.”  Styles waved off, Arin immediately being patted down by several people and asked to empty his pockets.   
             “Hey!  I need that!” Arin complained as his phone was confiscated.   
             “You’ll get it back when you leave.”  One dismissed him without second thought before ushering him back into the car.   
             “But--”   
             “Arin!” Styles shouted in an unexpectedly powerful voice, making Arin freeze in place, caught in his icy stare.  “Get in the car.” He carefully enunciated.   
             “Yessir.”  Arin plopped back in next to Dan, all but sweating.  He clung to Dan’s wrist, swallowing and trying to calm himself.   
             “Chill, you’re fine.” Dan tried to soothe, feeling Arin’s panic and unrest radiate from the pearl within his body, “Nothing’s going to happen.”   
             “Don’t you start making out back there.” Styles cautioned in a gleeful tone, causing Arin to stammer.   
             “Yep, tongues are in mouths.  Wieners are hard.”  Dan passively answered.   
             “Wait, let me fix the mirror first.”  Styles reached up to re-angle his rear-view mirror so the two were perfectly in frame.  The polarized lenses of his aviators hid his curious eyes from view at least.   
             “Okay, just who do you think you are?” Arin nervously hissed, body jittery as he wasn’t pleased with all the upsetting happenings being garnished with casual joking.  He could take a joke, hell, he was in the _D Club_ and there was nothing wrong with being gay anyway, but now was so not the time for this.  Why weren’t they more serious about this?!  Get on his level, dammit!   
             “I think that I am Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Styles.” The man grinned in the mirror.   
             “Wait…  You’re… A Lieutenant Commander of Lieutenants?”   
             “No, my name is Lieutenant.”   
             “Are you shitting me?”   
             “Both of my parents did not have input on my name, we’ll say that.”   
             “His name really is Lieutenant.” Dan laughed at Arin’s clueless expression, “We just call him Lou.” He needed to get that straight before a cyclical conversation ensued.   
             “Doesn’t that get confu--”   
             “Yes.” Lieutenant cut Arin off, pulling up, finally, to an unremarkable, huge and hangar-like building. “Dun-dah-dah-dah!  Our stop, gentlefolks!”  He parked the car and climbed out, motioning for the two to follow him.  “I only wish I could go with you.”  He shook his head with a wide, closed-lipped smile that stretched from ear-to-ear.  Walking them to the guarded door, he took off his sunglasses again, looking up to where all the ships were ominously hovering.  “I don’t know how we’re going to handle all this proof…  We can’t just say they’re weather balloons again.  Unless we do something really stupid.”   
             Dan giggled, Arin stuck close by them both as they breezed past the guards through the doors.  Inside was a spacious sea-hangar.  Other than the fact that over half of it was built over water, it seemed better suited to holding a massive aircraft.  Arin took a hold of Dan’s forearm, inexplicably calmed by the contact.  He looked about the huge room, the concrete, man-made ports all empty…   
             “Where is your ship?” Arin questioned, seeing Dan smile and Lieutenant grin with his perfectly straight, sparkling white teeth. “Uh…  Am I missing something?  Is it invisible?” Arin looked around some more, his eyes finally locking onto two, fist-sized orbits poking out of the water on stalks.  “What?”  He squinted to further inspect the odd objects, but soon after, felt the floor beneath him vibrate in an arrhythmic fashion, “What’s that?”   
             “I’d stand back here if I were you.”  Lieutenant recommended as Dan folded his arms to watch.  “Also, try not to shit yourself.”   
             The still water became turbulent with activity as several sets of fin-like wings upset the surface.  Waves of water lapped up onto the concrete, Arin flinching and hiding behind Dan.  The wings thudded in the air and sent water spraying every which way as the beast they were attached to burst its head from the water.  Maw open and shiny sets of crystalline, black teeth glistening in the artificial light of the hangar, Arin considered bolting for dear life.   
             “What the fuck is that?!”  Arin flailed, Dan reaching back as he frantically tried to escape from the situation, “I thought you said your ship was in here!” He yelped as a resounding crash rocked the floor, the black creature had beached itself, mouth still open.  A dark blue appendage--Arin would liken it to a tongue, even if that wasn’t its purpose--waggled stiffly inside it.  As Arin screeched, the creature projected its teeth, deep blue gums and all outward, towards them.   
             “Dan!” Arin used Dan’s grip on his arm to try to pull him back as the jawset snapped closed, feet in front of all of them.  Even Lieutenant stepped back, but Dan did not budge.   
             “Not funny, Bryrrna.” Dan chuckled in spite of his words.   
             The ground arrhythmically vibrated again…  This fucking thing was _laughing_ !  Arin huffed, turning bright red as he realized he wasn’t in any kind of danger, “What the fuck!?”  All at once, he found himself emboldened by his outrage.   
             “Arin, you’re used to this.” Dan laughed as his friend stomped forwards at the star whale.   
             “What is your damage?!” Arin shouted at the seemingly grinning, black and blue jawset.  He wheeled back, however, as the jaws parted again and fleshy, glowing, blue protrusion wiggled at them again.  “Dan, what is it doing?”  He backpedaled clear until he was at Dan’s protective side once more.   
             “Bryrrna is inviting us inside.  And I’m not one to turn down such an invitation.  Come on.”  Grabbing Arin again, he stepped towards the mouth, his human friend flailing.  “Stop that.”   
             “We’re walking into a mouth!”  The human all but shrieked, “On my list of fucking things I want to do today, walking into a huge fucking mouth is so not on that list!”  Dan’s grip was stronger than he had ever respected as he was easily toted into the orifice and his terror echoed around the metal-lined entrance.  “What the fuck, Dan!?”  Arin went pale as Dan disappeared into a white light and thought about running back.  He glanced over his shoulder to Lieutenant, still standing, watching with a big smile.  Arin felt his body buzz and was engulfed by white, then, he was sitting on a table…  “Wait…?”   
             “Great to have you on board.”  Dan grinned, looking over to Arin on the exam table they had last made love on.  “Welcome aboard Bryrrna, _once_ the fastest ship in the Vysvian fleet…”  The whole room rumbled then, making Arin cling to the metal table.   
             “W-We’re….  Inside…”  Arin looked around, he felt…  Weird.  Not in a sick way…   Not weird in the world seeming to align around him to make everything go wrong way…  “We’re inside a star whale.”  Arin looked about with more intrigue than ever.   
             “That’s…  Apt.”  Dan watched him curiously, eyebrows pulling together with thought.  He watched him slide off the table, unconsciously compensating for the added height of the Vysvian furniture, “Any…  Questions?”   
             Arin silently looked around, it unnerved Dan.  What was he thinking?  Was he…  Remembering things?  Was that possible?  Dan curled his fingers into fists, watching Arin re-familiarize himself with the room.   
             “When are we leaving?”  Then Arin’s eyes went to the other exam table protruding from the floor.  “Why is Brian asleep?”   
             “That’s complicated.”  Dan skipped over, “We will be leaving shortly.  Styles is on it.”  The man motioned out of the wide window as the ship slid off the concrete dock sets.  Water overtook the window soon after.   
             “What do I have to do with aliens?”   
             “That’s also complicated.”   
             “Dan!” Arin pounded his hand on the uncomfortably tall ledge of the second exam table.  “Answer _something_ !  I’ve trusted you this far…”   
             Dan deflated with a heavy sigh, “Brian is asleep because that is not his body.  Brian is this ship.  He can control the bodies of humans and has been using that one.”   
             Arin didn’t skip a beat, “Cool.”  Had he already figured that out?  “I’m  _inside_ you, Brian!” Arin playfully declared, getting an answer in the form of a long, drawn-out, musical rumble through the metal insides.  “You know, if you’re a whale, what about your PhD?!  Have you been _lying_ to everyone?!”  Dan watched as Arin took the explanation in stride…  This was _most_ unexpected.   
             “Bryrrna _basically_ has a PhD on his home planet.  Aeronautics and--”   
             “Theoretical physics.  Yeah.”  It was finally Arin’s turn to wave off someone as if their dialog didn’t matter to him.  A pause followed as Dan didn’t know what else to say.  “Are you going to…?”   
             “To what?”   
             “Tell me what the fuck I’m doing here.”   
             “Oh,”   
             “Oh?”   
             “Later?”   
             “Dan…  Please?”   
             “I…  Dan began to pace, “It’s hard for me to talk about and…  And…  It will take me some time.  You will know, you _have_ to know or you coming along will be as pointless as it is incriminating for me.  For now though, I need some time.”   
             Arin’s face screwed into an expression of confusion, a million questions were on his tongue and inside of him and his distress was apparent to Dan through more than just the Bond inside of him.  Nevertheless, Arin conceded, “Okay.”   
             “Captain Avidan?” The PA at the front console whirred to life as Brian had, ostensibly, opened the hailing channel without requesting first.  “Lieutenant Commander Styles has informed us that you have a pressing need to go offplanet today.”   
             “Avidan here, are we clear?”   
             “As clear as things will ever get during the day.  With dozens of alien--”   
             “Solgirian.”   
             “Dozens of _Solgirian_ ships hovering above Los Angeles.” The voice corrected.   
             “Thanks Caroline!”  Dan giggled, “C’mon Bri, let’s blow this popsicle stand!” He dramatically pointed behind himself, climbing into the console cradle raised from the floor.  “Oh, Arin, that tile under your foot.”  Dan pointed as Brian turned his massive head away from the concrete docks to the opening bay door.   
             “Hmm?” Arin looked down to the precise--if not slightly scuffed--white tiles underneath him, “Oh.”   
             “Yeah, that one, just--”   
             “I got it.”  Arin pounded the heel of his foot on the tile and stepped back as a cup-shaped chair rose up from the ground.   
              “How…  Did you know that?”   
              Arin shrugged, “Seemed self-explanatory.”   
              Dan was not sure if he should call this development promising or concerning, “Right…  Well, take a seat.”   
             Arin did so, overcome with a distinct feeling of anxiousness.  He swallowed, “We’re, uh, leaving Earth now?”   
             “Yeah, you might get a little motion-sick.”   
              _“Arin threw up everywhere that one time Arin was awake…_  Brian internally chimed-in for the first time since Dan and Arin had boarded.   _“Perhaps stasis is a better option.”_   
             “Ah, you’re right.”  Dan confirmed.   
             “I’m right about what?” Arin enquired, fidgeting in his egg chair.   
             “Not you, Brian.”  Dan corrected, “Would you like to be asleep for takeoff?”   
             “Brian?” Arin looked to the “sleeping” body on the table, “He didn--”   
             “We have a telepathic link to each other.”  Dan, once again, dispelled Arin’s confusion with the casual wave of a hand.  By now, they had moved out into the relatively shallow water of the harbor.  Brian picked up speed to clear the cluster of battleships and anti-aircraft guns.   
             “Oh, uh…”  Arin blinked and shifted with unease, “I…”  He looked around, growing more and more anxious by the second as he saw the underwater scenery rush by, “Um, what was the question again?”   
             Dan drooped and turned away as if prompted by an unheard voice, “Do you want to sleep through takeoff?”  His fingers slid expertly over the glassy console top.   
             “I don’t think I’d be able to sleep.”  Arin raked his fingers through his hair.   
             “The exam tables can hold you in indefinite stasis if you lay on it.”  Dan slid his fingers again, a metal clanging noise resounding beneath them.   
             “I think I’m good.”   
             “Okay.  Don’t throw up, please.”  Dan laughed as he felt the ship begin to rise out of the water, Brian filling his body’s hydrogen sacs.   
             “I’ll try.”  Arin settled deeper into his chair, take a thick, soupy breath as he heard a hum kick in in the background.   
             “Okay, Brian, let’s give your flabby bod a workout.”  Dan laughed again as a disgruntled grumble caused the cockpit to vibrate.  Not long after, Brian beat his many wings, already free from the water’s surface from the sudden, gaseous build-up.   
             “Oh, god.”  Arin licked his lips, closing his eyes, swallowing again.   
             “Head towards the city first, we need to be escorted by Captain Graah.”  Dan paused for a second, “Brian, don’t give me that.”  In a great rush that rocked Dan into the circular cradle of his console, Brian came to hover right in the middle of several ships.  “Bryrrna!”   
             The giant whale sent out low, rumbling noises to communicate with the other ships.  Arin, meanwhile, felt like there wasn’t enough air in the spacious ship.  His body was in a cold sweat as the sudden burst of speed jerked his already upset gut.  On the wide window, an image appeared, Arin recognized the face of one of the Solgirians, he assumed this one to be Graah. He remained silent as Dan conversed with the lizard shortly.   
             “Are you ready Arin?”  Dan checked one last time, resting his hands on his console.   
             “As ready as I’m going to be, man.”  Arin took a deep breath, closing his eyes again and nodding, “Okay…  Let’s go.”   
             “Take us away, Brian.”  Dan latched his hands into the console as Brian beat his wings faster and faster.  The whale turned his head skyward towards the cloud layer and in a single, undulating motion, took off in accompaniment of the sandy ships.  Dan clung, Arin was pinned back into the seat he had taken.  “Let me know if you need help, Brian.”  The captain calmly offered as they passed up through the clouds.  As if egged-on by the supposition of needing help, Brian accelerated up past the clouds, farther into the atmosphere.  “Don’t hurt yourself.”  Not long after the comment, Brian began to slow, free of the oppressive gravity of the blue planet and beginning to coast up into orbit with the other ships.  “Great job, buddy!”  Dan cheered, looking back to Arin who was more than a little green around the gills.   
             “Bucket.”  Arin requested, Dan immediately dropping fromm his console to grab a plastic bucket he had bought for another human use.  “Thanks.”  Arin dipped his face into the bright red piece of plastic.  Thankfully, vomiting was not a thing that happened.   
             “If it helps, Brian is laughing.”  Dan honestly informed his upset friend.   
             “Well, tell him…  He’s a fucking whale.”   
             “He reminds you that you’re a hairless monkey.”  Dan chuckled, “Oh, and that he also has a PhD.”   
             “Well, his PhD must not be in anything--”   
             “Brian!  Set coordinates and charge your drive, please!”  Dan departed from Arin and went back to his console.  As he climbed up, Brian turned his head to face the correct direction as the Solgirian fleet shared their destination coordinates.   
             “Are we really in space?”  Arin looked up from his bucket.  He peered out into the void of space beyond the window available to him.  “Wow…  And…  You haven’t said where we’re going yet.”   
             “Remember that United States of planets I mentioned?”   
             “There?”   
             “Yep,” Dan watched the lever extend from his console as he conversed.  “Normally it would take a day or two to go between systems, but--”   
             “I’m sorry, _days_ ?!  That’s--”   
             “ _But_ , I don’t want Brian accidentally hurting himself.  We’re taking it slow.  It might take about a week if we are able to keep a constant speed.”   
             “Wow…  We’ll be going at light speed, right?”   
             Dan chuckled, fondly remembering the last time Arin had asked him such a question.  “No, faster.”   
             “What’s faster than the speed of light?”  That sounded like the set-up for some kind of bad joke.   
             “A relatively slow speed for Brian.  Use your imagination.”  Dan’s smile wavered a little as the lever was fully offered to him and the hum of the drive grew louder.  “Once he’s back in shape, he’ll be as fast as he used to be.”   
             So,” Arin smirked, “we’re going at the speed of--”   
             Dan threw the lever, following the escorting ships into the between of space and time.   
  
             “Dan, you need to start talking…”  Arin prodded, getting up from the egg chair as the initial rush of the jump to “speed of Brian” wore off.  “You said we’re going to be travelling for a week…  With nothing to do.”  Arin didn’t want to nag, but…  Now that he was in space, he thought back to Earth.  Suzy, Barry--fuck, his _parents_ !--no one else other than Ross knew where they really were!  They would’ve just vanished to everyone else…   
             Dan slumped at the console, everything likewise coming to him with Arin’s words.  He had friends too, oh god, Rachel and Audrey…  Not to mention Arin’s--His thoughts stopped dead as he turned and saw curious Arin at the base of his console.  Just like before.  If only…   
              _“You and I need to talk…”_  Brian entered, _“Settle things with your Bonded and report to me Lyrdaanaavydaa…”_   
             “Yes, Bryrrna.”   
             “What?”   
             “Oh, nothing, Arin.”  Dan jumped down, not looking him in the eyes.   
             “Dan, please.  I’m…  I’m still scared, here.”   
             “Okay.”  Dan rubbed his arms up and down, looking about for anything comforting.  Suddenly, this didn’t feel like his home anymore.  He had lived inside Brian…   _Bryrrna_ for so many _cycles_ .  How was it that a few short, Earth _years_ had changed so much?   
             “Okay?  Start talking.”   
             “Be, uh, m-more specific?”  Dan reached out to touch Arin’s wrist.  At least Arin didn’t draw away from the contact.  It stood to say that, all the same, Arin didn’t appear comfortable.  “I don’t know where to start.”   
              “Why are we going to…  Wherever it is that we’re going?”   
              “Three years ago…  I was out on a, ah, a jaunt with Brian.  And while we were out we…  We saw something.  Apparently what we saw has relation to an escalating situation between two galaxies.”  Dan spoke calmly, Brian was not yet privy to this information either.  “This will take a lot of time to explain, exactly, but, there is a planet in the Andromeda galaxy that was partitioned long ago.  Long before any of us were born.  There is much unrest regarding this planet’s forced diaspora as well and it’s turning violent.”  Dan felt Brian’s unrest almost immediately.   
             With this revelation, Arin returned the grip on Dan’s arm, “Is this…  Is this about a possible war?”   
             “I think ‘war’ is too large-scale to name the situation.  My personal feelings on it are more that it will be a bloodbath.  The partitioned planet will…”  Dan shook off the dread he felt, “There will be heavy losses on both sides, especially in the members of the diaspora.”  His gaze dropped to the floor, “The people I’ve trusted to uphold justice and order are no better than how these people once were.”   
             “I’m trying to understand here, man, but, what do you _mean_ by that?” Arin scrabbled for any kind of purchase on the situation.  This all was just a big beyond his scope.   
             “The planet, Ger’gekur, was an expansive empire once.  They were the terror of the Andromeda galaxy for centuries, they conquered, devoured and destroyed _any_ planet that stood against them.  They enslaved many and eliminated just as many back h--In the galaxy.  Eventually, however, their empire was overcome and it toppled.  The planets were freed and they became the subjugated.  Their planet was sectioned off into the ownership of several planets.”  Dan paused and waited for Arin to process.  This, as he understood, was not something unheard of in Earth’s history.   
             “So, the Gekur are at it again?” Arin assumed, “Trying to take over their galaxy?”   
             Dan skipped over Arin’s easy grasp of terminology, “No.  They want unity.  They want their planet back to be their own.  The other galaxies are either hesitant or completely against it.  They don’t trust the Gekur.  It’s been so long, but many still think that they must be held in bondage to be peaceful.  If allowed to reunify, many fear they will go back to their old ways.”   
             “Do you…  Think that there’s…  Any merit to that idea?”   
             Dan stepped away to look out the window as star systems and space whizzed by, “I feel that there are ambivalent forces at work.”   
             “Uh…  Say again?”   
             “There are just as many good things as bad things.  Good things are that most of the planet’s population and every native that is allowed a place of power in government have been born into this peacetime.  The culture has been changed drastically from its roots due to the invasion of the other planets…”  Whether or not that was a good thing…  Dan was an observer, not allowed to pass judgement.  “They _must_ surely value it somehow…  The bad thing is that the Gekur are exceedingly long-lived.  There are still living Elders that support the old way of life, even if they are incarcerated.  Then there are the members of the diaspora.  Gekur who have never seen Ger’gekur.  Those that have been raised by alien parents on far-off planets and the ones who were banished due to circumstances of birth.”  Dan shook his head, the more he pondered this, the more upset Brian got and thus, the more puzzled he became, “It is _impossible_ to know how they feel.  If this situation gets worse, it may turn into the genocide of the ostracized ones.”   
             Arin’s mouth dropped open, his words barely audible, “That’s…  Fucking insane.”   
             “I know…”   
             Silence prevailed.  Even Brian was silent in Dan’s head.   
             “So, what does this have to do with me?”   
             “You don’t remember it, but you were there that day with Brian and I.  You saw something…  Whatever it was that you saw and probably _only_ you, is what the court needs to know to make their decision.”   
              Arin was speechless, groping internally for anything at all in this that made sense.   
             “I have a week to find a way to restore your memories of that event and after that, whatever information you are able to share might very well determine whether the banished Gekur in two galaxies either live, or die.”


	3. Movement II:  Crossing Through Into A Fuckin' Wormhole Beyond the Milkyway

              The conversation that ensued after the heavy political announcement went about as well as could have been expected.  Arin yelled, Dan explained the--though limited--circumstances of Arin’s lack of memory.   
_ “Why the fuck?!”  Arin had yelled then. _ _  
_ _              “Because they thought you knew too much.” _ _  
_ _              “And did I say…?” _ _  
_ _             “Yes, you consented so we could re-meet and be friends again…” _ _  
_ _             “I guess that’s good enough.”  Though, the tone in Arin’s voice gave Dan a hint that he didn’t really believe that. _ _  
_ __ Unfortunately, Dan lost his nerve to go too much farther into the conversation.   
_ “All in good time, Lyrda.” _  Brian had worked to soothe once Dan had retreated to his room.   _ “Arin will know soon enough.” _   
  
             All of this left Arin alone in the cockpit.  Dan had said something about needing to see Brian and ran off into the darkness of the long hallway.  Arin thought of going after him, but setting foot into the darkness without any light on an alien ship seemed…  Dangerous.  His fear kept him in the bright, cold room, alone.  Or…  Mostly alone.   
             “Brian?”  Arin raised himself onto his tiptoes to see the top of the exam table.  This was Dan’s ship, right?  Dan wasn’t  _ this _ tall…  Unless Brian was someone else’s ship first?  Or, um, was someone’s partner first.  Arin knew somehow that a concept of ownership never entered into the equation.   _ Maybe you remember more than you think you do? _  Arin contemplated for only a second before his mind got distracted again.  “Briiian?”  He tried again, reaching up to touch the other man’s limp arm once more.  Maybe no one really was home…  Arin was…  So alone.  Yet…  In spite of that…  This was oddly, “Familiar,” he sighed.   
              He shouldn’t have been so surprised by that after earlier.  Arin had been here before and had spent plenty of time on the ship from what Dan told him.  This had been a way to the rest of the world for him.  Arin felt at ease, not upset.   
              “So, I’m supposed to remember something.”  Arin said aloud, unsure of why he felt he should, but going with it.  “Something that could…  Protect or destroy a whole group of people.”  Well, if that didn’t scare the shit out of him, he didn’t know what would!  He pursed his lips, “And Dan’s…  Not helping me understand.”  In fact, he seemed shiftier than ever.  Not that Arin would ever call Dan shifty, he had always assumed him to be a very honest person and, to Dan’s credit, he had plenty of reason to not tell him about any of this for the past few years.  He could give Dan a pass as there was threat of government intervention for his being honest.  All the same, Arin knew there was a lot Dan was avoiding telling him.  Whether those were positive or negative things he was keeping from Arin, he couldn’t say.  All Arin  _ really _ knew was that he didn’t like it, it was quite offensive.  “I’m still…”  Arin paused to scoff at himself, “Honestly, I’m scared.”  Not knowing why, he was quiet after that.   
             He padded around the room, his footsteps echoing off the solid walls around him in the mostly empty room.  He looked at the exam tables, wondering what their purpose was other than transporting an inert human body.  His mind flitted easily away from the topic, however to wonder about the glowing wall of blank screens, buttons, dials, levers and other things he couldn’t describe.  Everything glowing had eerie greenish tint to its light but the panels were each cool to the touch.  He only dared to touch the screens, he was on a spaceship, there was  _ no telling _ what he could possibly fuck up if he pressed a button or touchpad.  Not long at all after his cursory inspection, Arin left them.  He felt no familiarity there.  None quite as powerful as the space by the exam tables or the control console base…  Magnetically, Arin turned his head…  The window?   
             The space of the inbetween was hard to describe.  It was color and it was nothingness.  Each time Arin looked away from it, he forgot what it looked like…  No human was ever meant to see it, however.  It somehow made sense in some kind of weird existential kind of way.  Arin’s focus, however, was not on what was beyond the window.  No, he picked out the smallest thing.  On the window was the barest shadow.  An almost imperceptible smear of grease against the glaring background.  It was a handprint.   
             Arin blinked, stepping forward, squinting at the smudge.  The smudge didn’t look fresh, but it was obvious what it was.  Arin curled his fingers into a loose fist at his side before raising the hand.  He licked his lips, hesitantly opening the fingers; of this whole, glassy room, there wasn’t a single print, stain or smudge on anything.  Had Dan left this here?  It was a side thought, unimportant, but…  Arin couldn’t help but wonder as he held his hand to the print and press against it.   
             “Fuck,” he cursed under his breath, seeing the perfect match in his hand and…  Flashes of pink played behind his eyes.  Swirling whipped cream clouds over a bubblegum landscape…  “Whoa.” He took his hand away, backpedaling slowly.  In the action, he half expected to run into someone--or through someone?--alas, he was still alone.  More or less.   
             Had that been a memory?  Was that momentous?  Where were Brian and Dan?  He felt like he should say something to them.  He heard the drone of engines and the whir of read-outs, he found it oddly soothing.  Arin thought he could fall asleep to it if he put his mind to it.  Instead, Arin went towards the dark hallway.  He could find them and he could…  He stood at the threshold of the room…  No…  Better not.   
  
_ “I  _ **_have_ ** _ to tell Rachel…  Somehow.” _  Brian impressed on Dan.   _ “I can’t just have my Bonded think I’m dead for months at a time!” _   
_ “I see your point, Bryrrna, but how do you want to go about…  You know?” _   
_ “You…  I can send a…  I can replicate telephone waves and--” _ _  
_ _              “It would take  _ **_years_ ** _ for the message to reach Rachel with such primitive technology.” _  Dan calmly reminded.  He wasn’t unsympathetic in the slightest to all of this.  Brian loved Rachel, human body or not.  As odd as their romance had been in prior years, the two undoubtedly obtained a bond just as strong as what Arin and Dan had.  Which, strictly speaking, was a bit odd for a ydyrn…  Dan didn’t bother to examine it, he had been in the business for long enough to know that expressions of love and affection were culturally constructed.  There was nothing biological or otherwise that kept the emotionally-reactive Ydyrn from experiencing the kind of bond that humans or zilbyrghr did.  All bets were off while working within the social codes of separate societies.   _ “You and I will have to consider more complicated methods of communication with her…  I know that upsets you.” _   
             The two were quiet then.  They had long gotten past Brian yelling at him for his negligence, and the panicking over the stakes of their newest mission.  They had only vaguely discussed what must be happening on Earth, but there were more pressing matters as things were.  The smaller matters of their direct situation needed to be considered at this point.   
_ “I miss this.” _  Dan pulsed, allowing his body to shine green.   
_ “I do too, Captain.” _ _  
_ _              “If Arin agrees…  Now that we’re here…  Do you think…?” _ _  
_ _              “And a if veritable Crusade against the Gekur doesn’t break out.” _  Brian qualified Dan’s fantasy as they both had to accept that that was a real possibility.   
_ “What will we do with that?  If it happens…?” _ _  
_ _              “I…  Cannot sit idly by as innocents are murdered.” _ _  
_ _              “Me neither…” _ _  
_ __ A tense moment passed,  _ “Arin is looking for you.” _ _  
_ _              “Arin hasn’t left the cockpit, yes?” _ _  
_ _              “Arin has given it thought.  I’ve seen Arin considering it several times.  So far, Arin has chosen not to, instead, talking to me.  I think.” _ _  
_ _              “Talking to  _ **_you_ ** _ or your body?” _ _  
_ _              “Me, as far as I can tell.  Arin is taking all this in stride.” _ _  
_ _              “It’s as impressive as it is concerning.” _ _  
_ _              “When do you intend to divulge your origins?  You had no problem telling mine, maybe I should make that decision for you--” _ _  
_ _              “Don’t be petty, it doesn’t suit you.  It was need to know.” _ _  
_ _              “It’s very…  Human, though.  Isn’t it?  Pettiness.” _ _  
_ _              “I suppose.  Last I checked, you weren’t the one that wanted to be human.” _ _  
_ _              “With every passing year I find Ross’s statement just to be a little truer.” _ _  
_ _              “I’m glad you’ve found something to make you happy.”   _ Dan sincerely regarded before breaking away from the raw patch of blue flesh on the wall.  On the reclining couch in his bedroom were cast the vestments of his envoy uniform.  Long strings of hollow, marble-sized “glass” balls sat in line with each other over translucent sheets of white, black and green fabrics.  Though the memories were buried beneath three years of pretending to be human, Dan easily recalled--as if memory was ever something that was difficult for him--how they all wrapped around his nebulous body.  The last time a situation warranted them…  It was just before he came to Earth, actually.  Ridiculous things to wear, really.  Moreover, one wore them differently while underwater versus on land.  They seemed needlessly complicated and overly ornate for him--thinks the man who had an overwhelming propensity for wearing flashy spandex and sequins…   
             “ _ I’ve always thought my Captain very handsome in all that.” _  Brian cut in with several rather adoring mental images of Dan.  Most of which from Dan’s earlier years.   
             “Stop that.”  Dan’s body sparkled nonetheless at the affection.  “I’ve just realized how long ago our last sojourn to Klesum was.”   
_ “Ah, your hut.” _ _  
_ __ Dan laughed, “Your lake.”   
_ “If Arin spent some time in Denver first, he would be well adjusted to go there.” _ _  
_ __ “So could Rachel and your daughter.”   
_ “You and I bought the property outright.  No one lives there.” _ _  
_ __ “Now look who’s the one forgetting we’re on the verge of a genocidal round-up?” Dan pessimistically rejoined, “Klesum is a hub planet…  It and Cazty will be ravaged the hardest by Seekers.”  Cazty in particular, Dan realized.  Many Gekur had joined organized crime syndicates that produced and exported a viscous plant product that had similar euphoric effects as opium.  Dan had enjoyed this product from time to time during his assignments to Irapraxiis and Taeotquin.  That was beside the point, and a very long time ago however…   
_ “Nothing is set in stone.  About Arin…” _ _  
_ __ “I’m going.”  Dan corrected his shape to his human one, exiting his bedroom to follow the halls and shafts back to the cockpit.   
  
             Arin lounged in the egg chair, bored out of his skull.  Why wasn’t anything on this damn ship padded?  Was all of this furniture made for a race of fucking  _ blob _ people?  Nowhere was comfortable!  Moreover…  What did Dan even  _ do _ on this ship?  Did he have ways to entertain himself?   
             “Arin?” The human jumped at the sudden voice, standing up out of the chair.   
             “Dan!” Arin had half a mind to be angry, but he was too bored and it just seemed counterproductive.  “Dude, what the fuck do you do for fun on this thing?”   
             “Ah….”  Dan chuckled and shrugged, “I’m usually at work while here.  Doing repairs, performing research, writing reports…  I, um, I used to read, um…”  Wow, he couldn’t possibly have been  _ that  _ uninteresting…  “Sing, write music!”   
             Arin blinked at the explanation, very slowly, “Seriously?  You have this  _ huge _ , high-tech spaceship and you don’t have anything to do?”   
             “This is a research vessel from a planet that is mostly submerged underwater and is from a culture entirely different from your own--”   
             “But you, a  _ human _ , live on it!” Arin gestured as if to say “checkmate.”   
             “Touche, look man, my entertainment was my work and Brian, whatever reading I had access to and music.”   
_ “And fucking everything that moved in four galaxies.” _  Brian added, making Dan laugh.  Brian hadn’t teased him over that in some years now.   
             “You were boring.”  Arin playfully jibed.   
              “Maybe…”  Dan hadn’t really thought about it.  He had been dutiful in his work.  He  _ enjoyed _ his job so much it hadn’t…  Seemed so bad to always be absorbed.  Sure, his true love was music, but cultures were so fascinating.  Music heavily featured in his own culture anyway.   
             “Hey, man, don’t sweat it.  I’m only playing.”  Arin stepped over to him, patting his arm.  As they stood close together, touching, spaceship whirrs in the back ground, in this room…  Arin felt a strange sense of deja vu.  They held each other in eye contact and...  Arin felt something inside him.  This wasn’t a new feeling, he knew it very well and knew it particularly well around Dan.  It drove Arin to step away and look back towards the window, placing his hands in the pockets of his fuzzy Hello Kitty pants, “I think I remembered something.”  He then clarified, “Not just now, earlier.”   
             Dan frowned as Arin shied away from the stirring feeling inside of him, “You did?”  At least the distracting subject was of great importance.   
             “Well, I don’t know for sure…  I think I did…  There’s a handprint on the glass over here.”   
             “Oh,” Dan feigned ignorance, “What did you remember?”   
             “I put my hand on the print and…  Did we got to a planet that was pink?”   
             Dan’s eyes went wide, “Yes!  Yes, we did!”  He advanced quickly after his friend, “What did you remember?!”   
             “Chill,” Arin nervously chuckled at Dan’s sudden proximity.  Being so close to Dan never mattered before, why was it now so…  Different?  “Um…  Just…  Pink and…  Clouds.”   
             Dan deflated, “Oh.”   
             “So…  Not helpful?”   
             “No, it’s not that.  It’s monumental that you remember anything at all.  The planet you saw is called Taeotquin.”  Dan paused as he waited for Arin to remember anything at all from the word.  He was sorely disappointed when Arin just nodded and continued staring.  “It’s the planet we were in orbit over when…  You saw whatever it was.”   
             “Sorry I didn’t remember anything useful.” Arin frowned.   
             “It’s okay.  We have a week.”  Though, at the rate things seemed to be going at, Dan wasn’t sure how the week was going to go.  It unnerved him that he knew so little about jogging the memories of humans after such grievous alien intervention.  Arin had seen him in his natural form and there had been nothing.  He had told him his real name and spoke to him through his mind and…  It depressed Dan a little.   
             “You said that you used some kind of machine to make me forget…  Can that, maybe, help return my memory?”   
             “No… The machine is not meant for that.  Just for the suppression or removal.”  Dan quietly reminded, “The only real saving grace for you, however, is that the species the machine is meant to be used upon stores memories on a cellular level.  Human memory doesn’t work like that, so it’s an incomplete, but very invasive process to use it on a human.”  Dan poked his own head, “If you have any inklings of memory left, it’s all up in your noggin.”   
             “Wow…  So…  How does it… Work?”   
             “The machine,” Dan began, striding quickly across the room and Arin following.  He got to the unoccupied exam table and reached up to grab the light hovering above it.  In doing so, he was reminded that his human shape was significantly shorter than his real one…  Fuck.  “One second.”  He clamored up onto the table and grabbed the instrument, pulling it down for Arin to look at.  It had more of those glowing buttons and dials and readouts on it, “The machine!” He started anew, chuckling.  Meanwhile, Arin folded his arms, trying not to laugh.   
             “Why does this thing even exist?  It seems shady to have on a research vessel…”   
             “In a human context, yes.” Dan nodded, “Humans, however, have the ability to forget information.” He gave Arin a very pointed look before the man laughed at his own short-term memory problems, “Especially information that is no-longer relevant to them or that is found to be false.  The race that designed this has a far more utilitarian purpose for it.  It’s rather banal, actually and non-threatening.  It cannot do its job unless the person undergoing treatment is willing and actively trying to forget whatever it is.  The machine needs to be able to find the exact cells the particular memories are stored in, which are in several places on the body rather than just in one.”  Dan grinned widely as Arin eagerly drank in the information, “They remember every second of their lives vividly, anything and everything that has ever been said or done to them.  In times before the perfection of this device, things reminiscent of…  Human narcotics were used to aid the memory suppression process.  Mostly primitive, toxic mixtures of mashed plants and soil minerals.”  Dan visibly cringed.  “Obviously, this is a much safer method.”   
             Arin stood speechless, mouth open, pupils dilated, “Dude…  So…  But…  How did it work on  _ me _ ?”   
             “Well…” That was the tricky thing to explain, “It produces, um, waves, that--”   
             “You mean radiation…?”   
             “Yeah, basically.  But don’t worry!  I made sure it caused  _ no _ cellular damage at all!”  Instead it seemed to permanently hinder Arin’s short-term memory, but Dan wasn’t about to admit that in full. “Ahem, but, it is  _ great _ at disrupting short term memory!” No shit, “It nicely inhibits the conversion to long-term memory as well.  You, however, it was…  Very difficult.  You were with me every day from the beginning of January through March.”   
             “That doesn’t sound like a long time.”   
             Ouch, right in the feelings…  Dan carried on nonetheless, “It is a very long time to… Overwrite, you could say, memories of the time.  Spending…  So much time together… And…”   
             “Are you okay, man?”   
             “Yes, I’m fine.”  He looked up to the machine, “I used the machine for something that wasn’t its intended purpose.  That makes its chances of complete effectiveness all the lower.”   
             “Okay, so… What’s the plan for jogging a couple months of memory?”   
             “I was hoping…  Getting to see all this and hear it would help…  It doesn’t seem…”  Dan paused, Arin banking he was listening to Brian.  “Hang on.”  Dan strode over to the exam table that contained Brian’s body.  He pushed a button and fiddled with a lever and moved the light over Brian’s face off his face.  A set of metal restrains fell away from Brian’s body and he sat up, shaking his head and looking generally out of sorts.  “You wanted to say something?”   
             “Ough, in a minute.”  Brian blinked a few times, looking around and trying to orient himself.  “This is so… Fucking weird.”   
             Dan laughed, looking around, “I suppose it might be for you.”   
             “Hey, Brian.” Arin waved, forgetting for a second that Brian was actually the ship he was standing in.   
             “Were you talking to yourself or me earlier?”  And that was a quick reminder for Arin that, yes, Brian  _ was _ a spaceship.   
             “I… I don’t know.” Arin answered as honestly as he could, “I’m just trying to go with what feels right for the moment.”   
             “Oh, that’s right,  _ feeling _ !”  Brian pointed to Arin, moving to slide off the table.  Thankfully, Dan caught him, elsewise, Brian would’ve ended up on his ass on the hard floor.  “Okay!”  He stood up straight, laughing to himself a little as he stepped away from Dan, “I want  _ both _ of you to listen up, here, because I’ve been doing some major hypothesizing the last three years about the functions of--”   
             “Brian, if this is about cellular memory in humans again--”   
             “Who has the PhD here,  _ Dan _ ?” Brian cut his captain off quickly with a smug smirk.   
              “In aeronautics and and theoretical--”   
              “Quiet, I’m a doctor of  _ everything _ !”  Brian held Dan in eye contact for a few more moments, still with a shit-eating grin on his face.   
               “Say what you want to say.” Dan waved him on, folding his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow.   
              “I was going to regardless.”   
              “So, what is your theory?” Arin moved them along.   
              “At least  _ someone _ listens to me.” Brian chuckled, scooting his way closer to Arin. “I’m sure Dan has already told you this body was not originally mine.  It belonged to someone else first.”   
              “Yeah, yeah, you’re a body snatcher.”   
              “Ah…  No, the government of the United States is, um, Harold--the guy that was in here before me--fell into a coma and was hospitalized.  So, since he’s not in here, I’ve had to rely on some of the stuff Rachel tells me, like that most of my favorite foods were also Harold’s--”   
              “Hold up!  Rachel knows you’re an alien?”   
              “Nope, but that’s exposition for later.  Shut up and listen to me.”   
              “Brian, you have all of Harold’s memories, his brain--your brain--is intact, I fail to see how this furthers your theories.” Dan dissented before Brian even had a chance to begin.   
             “Okay, be a Debbie Downer.” Brian rolled his eyes, turning to face Dan, “But, I will remind you that I do not have a sense of taste in the same way that humans do.”  Or even the Zilbyrgh.  “My digestion of food does not begin in the mouth, it begins much later, I have no…  Objective idea of what taste is.” he pointed out as Dan skeptically listened, “Every human food was new to me at some point.  I had no preconceived notions about taste, from the standpoint of my original body, I  _ cannot _ taste, neurologically--we will just use that term here--it is impossible for me to sensationally process it.  I cannot have favorite foods based upon the way a food’s chemicals interact with the secretions in my mouth.  I can only remember that Harold liked certain foods, but I didn’t know the  _ ways _ he liked them or why.  I am completely new to all ideas of taste and, in some ways, I will say the concept is disgusting altogether.”   
             “This is fucking weird, but, okay, so, why is this important?” Arin raised an eyebrow, completely lost already and Brian hadn’t even gone into anything all that complicated.   
              “Because I do not think that it is coincidence that I inherited flavor preferences.  You might be able to say the body had good experiences and bad experiences with certain foods and those chemical reactions farther along are the ones that influence my tastes, but I would like to assert something far different from that.  Just like I don’t have to go through the trouble of actively consulting past memories to know Rachel’s touch or other things about her.  It’s not just I feel something great and can’t describe it, I know that it’s  _ her specifically _ and food--”   
              “Brian, this is ridiculous.” Dan sighed, “Please, get to your point.”   
              “Fine, obviously this is going over both your ridiculously tall heads anyway.”  Said the man who was actually a 200-ton space whale. “As most of Arin’s memory is locked in his head and cannot be jogged--so far--either auditorily or visually, why not try  _ physical _ memory?”   
              Both Arin and Dan looked to each other before Arin went back to Brian, “Like the whole you never forget how to ride a bike thing?”   
              “Sort of, but on a deeper level than mere muscle memory.  You said you remembered seeing Taeotquin when you put your hand against the glass.  Obviously, the handprint is there  _ because _ of that time… Though, you were also pressed up against the glass other times for different reasons.”   
              It took everything in Dan’s being to not turn bright, neon purple at the offhanded comment.  Moreover, however, Dan was beginning to come around to Brian’s point.  So far, Arin had showed very little reaction to words or even seeing him.   
              “I see… So…  What are you proposing?” Arin stroked his beard.   
              “In order for your memory to come back, you gotta get physical.”  Of course, Brian punctuated this statement with a hip thrust, Arin completely unaware of just how  _ apt _ the motion was.  Arin laughed, in fact, and Dan, again, had to suppress his cells’ urges to express his complete embarrassment.   
              “Gotta do the old bump and grind against anything that could jog my memory, eh?” Arin continued laughing as Dan gave Brian a long-suffering expression.   
              Brian smirked to his captain, this would get things moving along at least.  It might have been overtly pushy, but they weren’t going to get things done with Dan’s typical, Zilbyrgh do all the thinking absolutely now,  _ forever _ and act later method.  This was why ydyrnr and zilbyrghr were best-suited in the company of one another.  Even Dan saw the logic in their pairing.   
              “Try ‘bumping and grinding’ against Dan for the best results.  Wash, rinse, repeat.” Brian continued to push.   
              “So, basically just do Game Grumps with him.” Arin laughed good-naturedly, not for a moment suspecting the true seriousness in Brian’s words.   
              “We will try your theory of tactile memory, okay?” Dan rushed in to do damage control.  Arin was taking all the “joking” in stride, but it wouldn’t take Arin long to  _ really  _ discover Brian’s meaning if he kept it up.   
               “Get on it then!  I’ll watch.”  Brian put his hands in his pockets, smiled and looked between them, “It’ll be like old times.”   
               “Wow, you two are kinky.” Arin commented as if Dan had  _ never _ tied him up on an exam table and tentacle-fucked him until he cried.  As if he hadn’t begged Dan for weeks to do just that to him…  All too quickly, Dan was immersed in the memories of loving Arin with his whole body and it was not a place he wanted to be in the moment.   
              “No, just Brian is an alien with no concept of personal boundaries.” Dan sighed, looking to Arin and rubbing his temples with exasperation.  “I guess we have some things to get to…”   
              “Yeah, like, where’s the fuckin bathroom?”   
              Yep…   _ Exactly _ like old times.   
***   
              Post explaining bathroom problems and grabbing some frozen food from the kitchen--Arin had miraculously managed to get the freezer open easily, but ended up with some severely bruised thighs in the process--Dan showed Arin around the ship.  Or… Showed was not really the correct word, exactly.  As Dan didn’t allow his body to glow--it was out of the question as humans didn’t  _ literally _ glow--it was more like dragging and clingy Arin around in the pitch dark.   
              “Why is everything so dark!?” Arin held fast to Dan’s side, “How do you know where you’re fucking going!?”   
              “I’ve lived on this ship a lot, I know where everything is.”  While that was quite true, it didn’t mean that Dan  _ frequently _ walked around in the fucking dark.  He was a whole lot less sure of where he was going than he would like to admit.  At least he had a pretty good memory of where most of the descending tubes to the lower decks were.  So far, there had been no falling incidents.   
              “Why are there no lights?”   
              “Because the species that most commonly uses ydyrn ships are their own lightsource.  It’s a waste of power and time to put lights in.”   
              “What about the consoles and stuff?  They glow and there’s tons of light in that room!”   
              “They glow because of bacterial chemical reactions.”   
               Arin was silent at first, “Okay, ew.”   
               “You said that last time too.” Dan chuckled.   
               “Right…  We hung out a lot before my memory was erased…  What did we do?”  Arin made a surprised noise as Dan dragged him forcefully around a corner and raised his hands up above his head to grab onto the rungs of one of the tube ladders.  Arin pulled himself up hesitantly, Dan following after him and stretching himself wide in the darkness to catch Arin like a safety net if he fell.  If Arin found out like this it wouldn’t have been  _ opportune _ , but it was a whole lot better than Arin falling several feet to potentially break something or die.   
               “I hadn’t been in human society for a long time.  You helped me reintegrate and I taught you about aliens.” Dan plainly stated, not keen on going into details.   
              “So, we weren’t in this ship most of the time?”   
              “No, it was mostly in the apartment you used to live in.  Before you got your house.”   
              “And going back to Earth is impossible right now anyway.”   
              “Oh, yes.”  Dan slowly followed Arin up through the shaft, reaching up to grab his ankle, “This is our stop.  Shift to the rungs to your right and crawl through that hole.”   
              “Where are we going?”   
             “Back to the cockpit, we’re going up a different route so we can avoid all the holes in the floor.  There’s a tube on this floor that goes up right to where the doorway is.”   
             “Why are the holes even there?  It sounds like a ridiculous design.” Arin commented and, to be honest, Dan also felt that way about it, but it was a whole lot harder for zilbyrghr to just  _ fall _ through the holes given their anatomies.  The insides of the ship also had the ability to be flooded while underwater and so all the tubes and such could easily be swam through without the worry of gravity.   
             “Alien ship, doesn’t have to make sense.”  Dan said instead.   
              “I should’ve realized that, hell, this ship is  _ alive _ anyway.”   
              “It is very different from Earth.” Dan agreed, following Arin out of the access tube and into the hallway.  Arin quickly clung to his body again before he had the chance to completely correct his anatomy.   
             “Which way?”   
             “This way.” Dan pulled Arin along after him.   
              They must’ve been near the seat of some mechanical ship parts from the loud clunking and humming noises.  Arin didn’t think to ask what they were, this whole thing was an unfamiliar and almost terrifying experience.   
              “Why is this ship so big?  I mean, just you live here?”   
              “You’re looking at this too much like ‘why did someone build this object,’ it relates significantly less to building choices and more the fact that these machine parts have been integrated with organic anatomy.  Brian’s insides are being shoved aside and displaced by all of this technology.  Some of the stuff is dedicated to helping with flight and other things, but much of it is also dedicated to keeping Brian alive.”   
              “Right…  I keep forgetting.”   
              “We’re right next to the shell of Brian’s life support systems, I have to pay special attention to the health and repair of the functions inside of it.”  Well, it was  _ one _ of them, Brian had several life-support systems throughout his massive body.  “Obviously, if I shirk my duties, Brian can die.”   
              “This seems so…  This can’t be comfortable for him and…”   
              “You had many questions about Brian’s anatomy before as well.  There is only so much I can tell you in a way that makes sense.  The species that is meant to be a ydyrn’s Captain is their co-dominant species on the planet.”   
              “Doesn’t sound like codominance when one of them uses the other as a transport vehicle.”   
              “It is a personal choice on the part of the ydyrn to become a transport vessel.” Dan quickly corrected, “It is a more…  Complicated form of the symbiosis the two species used to share in ancient times.  The ydyrn provides the protection and living space, the captain sees to the health and emotional well-being of their ship.”   
             “So, how did you get to be Brian’s captain?”   
             Shit…  “That is a story for another time.”   
             “Come on, Dan!”   
             “You will know in time, Arin.  I’ve told you before.  I’m sure that memory will come back to you in time as well.”   
  
              The cockpit looked a little different from the last time Arin was in it.  Brian had procured what appeared to be linens to dress one of the exam beds.  Dan had already explained that it was where Arin would be sleeping for the next week.  It seemed a little unfair that Dan had his own bedroom somewhere way off in the depths of the ship while he had to sleep with the bright-ass, fucking window in his room.  However, Dan had pointed out several important factors.  A lot of light was better than  _ no light _ at all.  Arin could have slept in the crew quarters in the many hard, empty bunks in the blackness…  That didn’t sound all that appealing and so, Arin appreciated the lengths Dan was going through to make the metal surfaces a bit more him-friendly.   
             “Do you remember being cold when you slept here before?”  Dan questioned, so much had happened to Arin on this exact table…  He had seen Dan for the first time, seen Brian for the first time and had spoken to him.  They had cuddled, had sex, slept together…  It hurt Dan to look at it sometimes.  It was no-longer just a surface for objective study.   
             “Sorry man.  Maybe if I lay on it?”   
             “True…  I’m sure that would be more enlightening.”  Maybe if he tied Arin up too and disrobed him…  No, no, he couldn’t think of that.  Dan, as Arin tried to get up onto the table, peered over to Brian’s prone, human body.  He stepped over to the table, clinically placing Brian’s limbs into the correct arrangement to restrain it back down in the stasis field.   
             “Dan!  A little help here!”  Arin called, Dan turning to see his friend still trying to get up onto the table.  He chuckled and came to Arin’s aid, putting his hands on Arin’s butt, giving him a push.  “Yeek!”  Arin jumped, pulling himself up the rest of the way up onto the surface, “Sure know your way around a butt.”   
             “I’m an old study in buttology.”  Dan winked, waiting for Arin to get comfortable, “Anything?”   
             “Nah…  I don’t think so…”  Arin frowned, a little downtrodden.  “What if I don’t remember anything helpful?  Ever?!”   
             “Don’t worry, Arin.  I’m sure you will.”  Dan tried to reassure when he wasn’t so sure of that himself.  “We can try more invasive methods if passive ones don’t work.”   
             “What are…  ‘Invasive’ methods exactly?”  If it had anything to do with him being anally probed that was  _ right out _ …  Or..  Well…  Arin looked down to the exam bed and rethought the idea.   _ Does that really sound so bad?   _ Somehow, it didn’t.   
             “I don’t know yet.” Dan kept talking as Arin thought, “I’ll have to come up with something that sounds terrifying.”  He’d have to find where he put that steel mouthprop.   
             “Won’t have to try too hard.” Arin joked, feeling the day’s stress begin to finally come down on him.  Damn, he was tired.  “Everything sounds terrifying right now.”   
             “I’m sorry,” Dan began with a frown, “I’m not helping.” Dan reached up to take his hand.   
             “Getting forward, eh?”  Arin deflected, smiling nonetheless.   
             “Deciding to make my move.  Scared and” Dan tossed his hair, giving Arin the ol’ “smolder,” “so needy.  I’m here for you, Babe.”   
             Arin laughed, squeezing Dan’s hand and biting his lip, “I’m swept off my feet.”   
             Dan grinned back at him, feeling his pearl vibrate.  He would’ve sighed wistfully, but he couldn’t afford to be so obvious now.  He gave Arin’s hand one last stroke with his thumb before letting go.  It wouldn’t be a good idea yet to try to open up those memories.  Too much could still go wrong there.   
             “Today has been exhausting.”  Dan pressed down on a tilek, another egg-shaped chair sprouting from the floor.  He dropped into the chair and curled his legs into himself, leaning into the inside wall of the chair.  “I could just sleep here.”   
             “You’d get a terrible crick in your neck.”   
             “Yeah.”  Dan passed the comment off without thought.  He was too busy yearning for a shell to curl up in.  Safe and enclosed…  Like with his family.  It wasn’t considered healthy for a zilbyrgh to remain out of affectionate physical contact for too long.  Brian was able to fulfill the need mostly, but…  Arin was so near…  It would take very little effort at all to just curl up with him…  After all, their intimate, friendly moments on the grump couch had lead up to this, right?  Dan could just…?   
             “It would be better for you to lay down…”   
             “No, this is fine.”   
             A short silence followed.   
             Arin made an “ahem” noise, “Do, uh, we have a way to talk to anyone on Earth?” he broke into Dan’s thoughts of cuddling again.   
             “Mm, not while we’re inbetween spaces.” Dan groggily mumbled, “We can once we land, but,” he shifted again, actively trying to remain awake to speak with Arin now, “but it’s more complicated than that.”   
             More silence, Arin twiddling his fingers as he sat on top of the sheets of the exam table.   
             Dan was beginning to float into the nebulous memory review of stasis when Arin asked, “How are you not cold over there?”   
             “Mmm?”   
             “You’re not cold?”   
             “No, I’m fine.” Why was Arin still on about this?   
             Silence again.  Dan didn’t trouble himself with its pregnant aspects.   
             “Well, I’m cold.”   
             Dan lifted his head, beginning to become annoyed with Arin’s frequent thwarting of his sleep cycle, “Do you need another blanket?” he didn’t bother to look over to see Arin hadn’t even laid himself out on the table.  He was going to be a little perturbed if that was the case.   _ Where is that Miriodian sex quilt?  The stains on it won’t be too overt for him to understand, will they? _  Miriodian copulation was…  Complicated.  Lots of…  Fluids.  And screaming, couldn’t forget the screaming.   
             “Ah, no, that’s fine.”   
             Then why bring it up at all?  “Okay.”  Before Arin could get the chance to say anymore, Dan fell asleep.   
***   
             Not much happened over the following period of two or three days.  Arin was tired and cranky for the most part, complaining of being unable to figure out when he should be asleep or awake.  Moreover, he seemed intent upon not talking about going to bed until Dan did.  That was the reason Arin was so sleep-deprived, however.  Dan had only responded to Arin’s cantankerous observations with “You get used to it.”  Vysvaa, though comparable, was smaller than Earth, not only did this make the gravity lower upon the planet, but it made its rotation speed slower as well.  The days were a few hours longer and Dan’s own sleeping rhythm never fully adjusted to Earth’s twenty-four hour rotation.  “If you have to sleep, feel free to do so when you want.  You don’t have to wait for me, I won’t be sleeping that much.”  Or, more accurately, he would stay awake longer and sleep longer.   
             Dan tried almost everything to help Arin’s memory along.  A spoke on the Kriranrk, the Gekur and the Ydyrn.  Perhaps he should’ve spoke more about the Zilbyrgh, but that somehow seemed dangerous.  Dan’s cautious nature, nevertheless, was getting in his way.  Arin took all the information in hungrily, asking questions  _ upon _ questions, but…  It just didn’t seem to be working past Arin’s occasional flashbulb moments.  He remembered the Kriranrk were closer to plants than animals and that the Ydyrn had nervous systems close to humans.  It was something, but none of these facts helped the larger problem.   
             “Didn’t Brian suggest physical memory?  Like, you know,  _ doing stuff _ ?” Arin found himself increasingly befuddled by Dan’s choices of education being largely through words and pictures.  Hadn’t they already figured out that that wasn’t how this was going to work?   
             “The things we did then we can’t do now.”   
             “Why not?”   
             “Because we just can’t.” Dan answered in a panic, laying the topic to rest.   
             Though, Dan had,  nevertheless, seen Arin’s point in the question…  So he toured the ship with him again, using his phone as a flashlight.  He had Arin lay on the bed, sit up on the bed, talk to him while laying on the bed--nothing!   
_ “Lyrdaanaavydaa, Arin will remember nothing while you’re being so dishonest.  I can tell it is wearing on Arin’s nerves too.” _ Brian pointed out,  _ “You cannot expect Arin to reconnect with you if you won’t connect with Arin…” _   
             “I don’t need a lecture, Bryrrna.”  Dan wrapped the white fabric he had laying out around one arm and his upper body.   
_ “You were so excited before to share this with Arin again…  What changed?” _   
             Dan threw the black fabric over his opposite arm and layered it over his upper body, the two fabrics creating a shifting plain of grey mesh where they overlapped, “It will change everything…  It’ll be so…  Awkward.”   
_ “This isn’t healthy for you.” _   
             Dan slumped, “What if he hates me after it?” he shook his tendril-covered head, “Or worse, he doesn’t care?”   
_ “It’s Arin…  Pardon the human expression--get your head out of your ass.” _  Needless to say, this made for some very interesting mental images for Dan to parse.   
             “What should I do?”   
_ “Try to  _ **_connect_ ** _ with Arin.  Don’t just talk.  Take the initiative, like before.” _   
             “I guess…”  Dan looked around his bedroom.  “Okay.”  He let the lengths of fabric slide off his form back to the reclining couch.  He had to bring Arin here…   
  
              Arin gazed at the cozy room, this place…   _ This place _ was familiar, Arin didn’t remember being in it exactly, but it felt…  Nice to be here.  It was also the only room that had artificial lights set-up in it.  He smiled at the decorations and the various knickknacks lying around, but the large, tall cylinder of water in the center of the room held his attention the longest.   
              “What’s that?” He pointed to the constantly circulating water, it was a lot like a fish tank, actually.   
              “The Ydyrn and their co-dominant species both originate underwater. That’s a sleeping vessel, filled with water from their home planet and kept at the same temperature as their oceans.”  Hence, the top of the “jar” was sealed tightly to avoid evaporation.  Not that it wasn’t already oddly humid inside the ship.   
              “So, was the planet that Brian is from the one you spent the most time learning about?”   
              “You could say that.” Dan chuckled, but his expression dropped as Arin plopped down on his reclining couch, on top of his envoy uniforms!  “Aaah!  Wait!”   
              Arin jumped up quickly, “What?  What?”  He looked down underneath him at what he had assumed to be sheets.  As far as Arin had postulated, Dan slept on the padded couch.   
              “Those are clothes.  Important ones.”  Dan collected the airy, almost weightless fabrics into his arms along with the strings of “glass” beads to store them elsewhere.   
              “They sure don’t look like clothes…  You can see straight through them.”   
              “That’s the point.  It’s meant to promote  _ transparency _ .”  Dan carefully sat down the objects on another surface, but as he moved things around, he saw Arin’s focus had, yet again, shifted elsewhere.  This time…  He was staring at a small, black bag, drawn closed by a drawstring composed of woven grasses.  Its top was barely poking out of a box.  Oh no…  “Arin, wait,”  Dan reached to stop him, but Arin had already picked up the bag, its weight familiar in his hands.   
              “This is mine…”  Arin mumbled, rolling it around in his hands.  He looked up to Dan, “You bought this for me.”   
              Dan’s whole body deflated, “Yes, I did.”  This should have been something happy.  This was progress!  Arin was remembering something concrete!  Instead, all Dan felt was worry.  Especially about the other contents of the box…  He quickly picked the box up, counter-productive as it was to keep the other objects from Arin.  Thankfully, Arin didn’t really notice, he was too absorbed in inspecting the soft bag from an alien planet.   
              Arin pulled the bag open and reached inside, he plucked out one of the lustrous yet uncut black diamonds inside.  His mouth dipped open again as he held it up to the light, watching its planes sparkle, “Diamonds.” Arin remembered and chuckled, “As they say ‘diamonds are a girl’s best friend.’”   
             “Yes…  That’s what you said then.”  Dan nodded, seeing Arin’s expression turn…  Confused, “What’s wrong?”   
             “Nothing…”  Arin dropped the diamond back into the bag and closed it.  “Just…  Green…  I’m remembering green…  And…  A lot of colors at the same time, it’s confusing, because… I can hear this voice, but I can’t…  Remember anything being said by it.  Not really.”  Arin shook his head, brows furrowing all the harder, “I know you bought these for me, but I don’t remember  _ you _ .”   
              “I’m…  It’s a product of the memory tampering.” Dan admitted, “I’m not surprised by that.”   
             “Are you saying the voice is probably yours, then?”   
             “I know for certain it’s mine.  When I gave you those, I was the only one on the ship and Brian wasn’t able to talk to you yet.”  Or, well, he could, just differently than he spoke to Dan.   
             “So, why all the lights and green?”   
             Dan shrugged, “A mystery for another time.”   
              “Stop being an ass, Dan.” Arin huffed, tightening his hold around the bag of diamonds in his hand, “You want me to remember, so why do you keep hiding things?!”   
             “A-Arin, I--”   
             “You know  _ everything _ about that time with me,  _ you _ have the memories and I don’t!  What are you trying to hide here!?”   
_ “I told you.”   _ Brian momentarily cut in as he bore witness to Arin finally snapping.   
             “I…  Arin, there are certain things that…  That happened… Um… Between us in that time, that…”  Dan shook his head and fell silent, feeling that his inability to articulate himself was explanation enough.   
              “What things?” Arin pushed anyway, “Did we fight a lot?”   
             “When do we ever fight?”   
             “Then what was the problem?  Why are you acting this way?” Arin stomped his foot, standing up straight in his irritation.   
             “Arin, I…”  Dan slumped, he didn’t know what to say…  “It’s hard for me because what happened then is best left in the past.”   
              “Did I opt for my memory to be erased because I didn’t want to…  Remember something?” Arin interrogated, letting the bag hang from his fingers by the drawstring loop.  “Something…  You did to me?”   
             Dan’s eyes widened with shock as Arin suggested that Dan would  _ ever _ hurt him intentionally.  It made him sad, but it also made him  _ angry _ , “When have I ever done something with the direct intention of hurting you, Arin?!”   
              “Never as far as my knowledge goes, but, you know what?  There’s some stuff that I  _ can’t fucking remember _ because of you!  Excuse me for being a little skeptical here!” Arin shouted back at the question.   
             “Neither of us had a choice, Arin, I  _ had _ to do it.”   
             “And you  _ have _ to return my memory somehow!  The shit you’re doing now isn’t going to help!”   
             Dan threw his arms up, exasperated, “We had a very complicated relationship once, Arin and--”   
             “It was for not even  _ three _ whole months!  How fucking complicated could it have been?!”   
             Dan cringed, curling in on himself, his anger had all ebbed with Arin’s words.  Instead he felt…  He looked to the box of Arin’s things and with heavy steps he picked it up.  Not bothering to meet Arin’s eyes, he shoved the box into his arms, “There.”  Dan stepped off into the darkness, stranding Arin in the room at the heart of the ship.   
             “H… Hey!” Arin called after Dan as he disappeared, not even the sounds of footsteps could be heard.  He just…  Melted into the void.  Arin swallowed, he didn’t like being alone on this ship anymore in this room than he had in the cockpit.  Sure, this room had felt familiar, just as the cockpit did and it had more amenities, but…   _ Maybe you shouldn’t have yelled at him? _  Arin thought, but he quickly shrugged it off, he could apologize later if he really felt like it.  Dan was tough…  Right?   
             Anyway, the box…   
             Arin looked down into the topless package, there were several items stored inside.  The ones he noticed first were obviously things he had drawn.  They were in an older style than he presently used, but they were definitely his.  Deciding that he was going to be looking through its contents for awhile, Arin stepped back and sat down on the wide, reclining couch.   
_ “Do you want me to sleep with you?”  Dan had asked. _ _  
_ _              “No!  That would be the fucking worst, because, you know, you’re icky and shit.” Arin responded. _ _  
_ _              Dan just laughed, “I have to finish this report and I’ll be over in a minute.” _ _  
_ __ Whoa…  Arin blinked a few times, looking back at the piece of furniture.  Had that been…?  It was far more informational than the momentary flash of Taeotquin.  Dan had offered to sleep with him then?  Really?  Arin shook his head, maybe he would get more if he looked through the box.   
             There were a few things in the box besides the drawings.  Nonetheless, at first, the drawings absorbed his attention.  Arin recognized the drawings of the Kriranrk and Gekur instantly, there were fewer pictures of the Ydyrn, but…  The most common drawings were of a species Dan hadn’t told him about.   
_ The Zilbyrgh… _  Arin’s mind filled-in instantly, he was rather shocked, however, when his memory went a step farther and identified the drawing with…  “No…”  Arin’s mouth dipped open, staring in awe at the swirling, nebulous being on paper.  Various hues of green played out over the creature’s body, hints of blue at its extremities.  This was no idle doodle, Arin…  Arin  _ remembered _ putting effort into it, making all the pencil colors blend together perfectly and smoothly.  After all this time, the paper still smelled lightly of fixative.  When did he ever  _ actually _ use fixative on any of his traditional media pieces?   
             Arin shook his head, cursing quietly as he sifted through the drawings.  As he inspected each one, something slipped from between the pages to the bottom of the box.  It was smaller than the rest of the pages and made of more rigid materials, but was still flat.  Arin raised his eyebrows, distracted by the motion.  Reaching down into the box, he picked up the item that had been shaken loose.  “Oh…”  It was a series of photographs from a photobooth.


	4. Movement III: Touch, I Remember Touch

_ His hand was warm in Arin’s hand.  It was pleasantly heavy, but it was not like Arin was carrying it.  Their fingers just laced together nicely. _ _  
_ _              “You said sushi was good?” Arin had asked, smiling up to Dan. _ _  
_ _              “Your sea-life is very similar in flavor to much of ours!  It comes as a great surprise considering how our sealife can also survive in the pockets of liquid ammonia.” Dan had giggled along at the question, “I am always up for sushi, man.” _ _  
_ _              “Is  _ Chronicle _ okay for a movie?”  It wasn’t a romantic movie and it had come out over a week ago.  Arin banked the cinema would be empty on Valentine’s day.  Just him and Danny to…  Have some “innocent” movie-going fun. _ _  
_ _              “What is it about?” _ _  
_ _              “I dunno.” Arin shrugged, “That’s why you go see the movie.  So you can find out what it’s about.” _ _  
_ _              “What if you spend currency on it and it’s bad…?” _ _  
_ _              “Ah, you just don’t have to buy it when it comes out later.” _ _  
_ _              “Do you really not know what it’s about?” _ _  
_ _              “I mean, I’ve seen trailers, and stuff.  It’s like…  Blow-y-up mind-y powers or some stuff these kids get.” _ _  
_ _              “The studios should pay you to write their commercial scripts.”  Dan laughed, “Would probably be more interesting than most one’s I’ve seen. ‘Shit’s gonna be like blaaah!  Then it’ll go puh-shoooo!  Fuck, man, then it’ll be--’” _ _  
_ _              “All right, all right, that’s enough!” Arin laughed along with him, turning bright red.  “I got my own show anyway where I get to say all the stupid shit I want.  What would I need one of those jobs for?”  This was not saying that Arin had never had a “professional job” before, of course, he was a voice actor on record. _ _  
_ _              “I don’t know, perhaps to enlighten the rest of the world beyond Youtube?” Dan shrugged, looking at something in his hand. _ _  
_ _              “Are you still staring at those pictures?” Arin questioned, actually finding Dan’s fascination with the series of photographs endearing. _ _  
_ _              “Why wouldn’t I be?  We’re adorable.” Dan smiled, turning his head to look at Arin.  “Disgustingly.” He chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows as he leaned their lips closer together. _ _  
_ _              “Yeah, we’re so gross.” Arin nudged their lips together softly, ignoring the looks from a passing older couple in the mall. _ _  
_ _  
_ __ “Uh… Whoa…” Arin’s face was the color of cherries, dropping the pictures back into the box as if he had been burned.  That was some deep shit he’d just seen and… And…  “Dan!” He shouted down the hall, “Dan you fucking get back in here right now!”   
             His voice echoed down the metal and glass halls, but there was no reply.   
             “ _ Dan’s a little bit indisposed at the moment. _ ” Brian cleared Arin’s voice.   
             “Aaah!  Brian! You stupid…”  Arin ground his teeth, body tense as if waiting for Brian to make him punch himself.  The moment after that, however, it set-in that Arin had no idea how he knew it was Brian inside him…  “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”   
             “ _ I was hoping that it would bring back memories…  It seems to have only worked a little.” _ Brian cleared Arin’s throat again.  “ _ You are so phlegmy as always.  Have you ever tried to fix that? _ ”   
             “Ever tried asking before getting in someone’s head?” Arin sniped back, at ease with the strange sensation.  Swiftly after that question, Arin sighed, “Okay, yes, you did ask once before, but still.”   
             “ _ You’re inside me without paying rent.  I’m going to stay inside you too. _ ”   
             “Just don’t rip my stomach out.”   
             “ _ You remembered something a moment ago…  What was it?” _ _  
_ __ “Oh…  Valentine’s day.” Arin blushed, “It’s…  Dan and I were…?”   
             “ _ I’m not the best one to ask about that. _ ”   
             “Well, Dan’s not here.”   
             “ _ It would be best for you to wait to speak to Dan. _ ”   
             “Ugh!” Arin pulled at his hair and plopped back down onto the reclining couch, “Why are both of you like this?!  I want to remember!  I have so many questions, but neither of you are--”  Arin choked and began to cough.   
             “ _ This is not a matter of me keeping the truth from you, Arin.  The relationship you and Dan had was none of my business beyond Dan being my captain…  It is not my place to talk about it. _ ”   
             Arin gasped, regaining control of his voice, “Right…”  He rubbed his throat in spite of the fact that he hadn’t felt anything physical against it.  “Is…  Is, um…  Is Dan…?”   
             “ _ An alien? _ ”   
             Arin’s body stiffened, his mind going blank for a second.   
             “ _ Was that your question? _ ”   
             “I actually can’t remember the question anymore.” Arin shrugged it off, looking around the room.   
             “ _ Really?  It was, like, two seconds ago. _ ”   
             “Yeah, well, you know me.  Always going.”  His eyes stopped on the glass tank of water and he let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.  “Do I…  Uh… Did I have to have an  _ intimate _ happening with an object to remember something about it?”   
             “ _ I hope not.  You won’t remember too much about what happened above Taeotquin if that’s the case. _ ” Brian cleared the throat he was using again.   
             “What  _ did _ happen?”  Arin was sure Dan had meant to tell him, but it had slipped his always running mind.   
             “ _ If I understand, you, Dan and I witnessed the escape of some convicts.  Dan and I…  Dan and I chose wilful ignorance of the situation.  You watched it. _ ”   
             “Are you seriously saying you two don’t know dick about shit because you just held your flippers over your eyes?”   
             “ _ Essentially _ .” Brian responded with a few droning chuckles.   
             “What if I don’t remember stuff?”   
             “ _ I would assume…  That the courts will go off of whatever information they have to make their decision.  Dan is…  One of very few Gekur sympathizers, Dan is not confident that the courts’ pending decisions are good ones. _ ”  Brian shook Arin’s head, _ “Dan never did have the ability to remain impartial to research subjects.  Even when not trying to be directly involved, Dan gets involved anyway. _ ” He then scoffed out of Arin’s mouth, Arin finding Brian’s uncustomary cold attitude unnerving.   
             “How do you you feel about them?” Arin stood and took a few steps over to the tank of water, feeling its warmth radiate to his skin.  “Or should I ask do you  _ feel _ ?”   
             “ _ My emotions do not express the same as a human’s, but difference does not mean absence. _ ”   
             “So, you’re just weird?” Arin chuckled.   
             “ _ By a human standpoint, yes. _ ”  Brian gave three short laughs afterwards, “ _ As for the Gekur, I had podmates that converted just to fight them.  All of them died. _ ”   
             Arin blinked in confusion, had the wars not been as long ago as he had thought?  Arin shrugged and moved on, “So, you don’t like them?”   
             “ _ I was raised to kill them by surviving podmates.  However, I was still a baby at the time of the war’s end.  While I have no love of the Gekur, the populations in question are largely innocent.  It is likely that whatever has happened to anger the galaxy, or both of them, has only been perpetrated by a small, or almost statistically insignificant group. _ ”   
             “That’s dumb.  Why make such a decision at all?”   
             “ _ Wise words coming from a species that does this all the time. _ ”   
             “Ouch…”   
             “ _ It’s nothing personal.  You obviously see the stupidity in it. _ ”   
             “Do you think you can lead me to wherever Dan is?”  Arin pressed his body to the warmth of the bubbling tube of water, gasping as images danced behind his eyes.   
  
_ A sandy, flat body clung to the inside of the tube in his memory, pressed up against the sides and settled on the bottom.  It looked more like a grey-brown, smooth mold than anything remotely intelligent.  Part of the mold was curled around a dark blue, tentacle-like protrusion from the bottom of the tank.  An interesting surrogate for a teddy bear... _ _  
_ _              Arin tapped the glass, “Wake up, buddy.”  Arin was naked, body pressed up against the warmth of the tube.  The grey body rippled to life, turning blue at first and then green.  “Nap time’s over.” Arin smiled. _ _  
_ _  
_ __ “ _ That was an odd experience. _ ” Brian commented, having been present for the short memory.   
             “What was….  That?”  Arin swallowed.   
             Brian cleared the throat first, “ _ You know what that was. _ ”   
             Arin stayed silent, internally blanking for a second before resuming his examination of the collection of water.  Looking into the bottom of the warm vessel, the dark blue protrusion from his memory was wound-up loosely on the floor, “What is that?”   
             “ _ Similar to one of your nerves.  That one comes from my…  Spinal cord is the best way to think of it.  It’s not right, but it’s close enough. _ _ I like similes, so it’s an ethernet cable to my consciousness. _ ”   
             “That wasn’t a simile, it was a metaphor.”   
             “ _ Who has the PhD here? _ ”   
             Arin snorted, shaking his head, “What would happen if it gets hurt?” he couldn’t help but wonder.  Usually, laying one’s nerves bare was a very  _ bad _ thing.   
             “ _ My captain would never dream of hurting it. _ ” Brian deflected.   
             “He _ can’t  _ dream.” Arin responded without thinking about it, but paused afterwards…  His face lost color as he stared at the “ethernet cable” a moment longer and he stepped away.   
             “ _ A valid point. _ ” Brian displaced some of Arin’s phlegm again, “ _ You want me to take you to Dan? _ ”   
             “Yes, please…”  Arin shivered, knowing this was going to be one of the hardest conversations of his life.  “Can you just tell me how to get there?”   
             “ _ I think this is a more direct method. _ ” Brian announced as he forced Arin’s body along.   
             “Waaah!  Hang on!” Arin protested as Brian made him walk right into the blackness of the hallway, “I can’t see anything!”   
             “ _ You don’t have to because I don’t need to see my insides.”   _ The two beings turned a corner down a short hallway.   
             “That’s gross.”   
             “ _ You get used to it. _ ”  With a yelp from Arin, Brian bent him over, making his hands firmly grasp onto the sides and rungs of a shaft.  “ _ Never fear, I have a PhD _ .” Brian lowered Arin down into the tube and slowly made him descend.   
              “In body driving?!” Arin shouted in the pitch blackness.   
              “ _ I got my learner's permit just last week _ !”   
              “Brian!”   
             “ _ Be quiet, I hate backseat drivers. _ ”  Brian clenched Arin’s jaw shut, not letting go in spite of how much Arin fought to speak afterwards.   
             As terrified as Arin was, unable to control his body, unable to speak and essentially only able to scream in his head, he knew Brian wouldn’t let him fall.  He felt a warm pulse of safety in his chest, Brian’s established link to him allowing the soothing feelings to pour into him.  It was like having the biggest Brian hug ever and Arin never wanted to leave the hug.  While the comforting was nice and very much needed, Arin was still human and his body being entirely out of his control was not a pleasant feeling.  Or, well…  It wasn’t pleasant in this situation anyway.   
             “ _ No reason boner _ ?” Brian asked once they were off the series of rungs and on another deck below.   
             “I don’t have a boner.” Arin rapidly spit, expecting Brian to shut him up again.   
             “ _ You were thinking about it, though. _ ”  Brian knowingly smirked.   
             “Not with you…”   
             “ _ Of course not. _ ”   
             “Ever tried this shit on Rachel?”   
             “ _ Rachel doesn’t know I’m actually a giant space brain and I like it like that. _ ”   
             “You said earlier, but have you?”   
             “ _ Why would I without telling her?  What’s the point?  If I don’t intend for her to find out, and have pleasure in it there’s no enjoyment. _ ”   
             “I see your point, bro.”  Arin stayed quiet for a few minutes, his footsteps echoing beneath the constant baseline of working machinery.  “Are we almost there?  This is weird…  What’s down here?”  Arin would’ve slumped tiredly if he could move his limbs independently from Brian.   
             “ _ Storage.  I am Dan’s house. _ ”   
             “That’s…”   
             “ _ I can tell you this, Arin, I have  _ **_not_ ** _ missed all of your human judgments these past three years. _ ”   
             “Excuse me for not being a fucking alien.” Arin made an affronted noise.   
             “ _ To me, you are. _ ”   
             “Like you don’t pass judgments too?  Like… Not ones that matter or anything, but--”   
             “ _ I am a scientist.  It is not my place. _ ”   
             “You’re so full of shit.”  Arin’s body stopped and the comforting feeling was gone along with Brian’s control.  “Uh…  Brian?  Brian?!”  The human shrunk in on himself, unable to so much as see his hand in front of his face.  The inside of the ship was  _ huge _ , no one would ever possibly hear him other than Brian!  “I didn’t mean it, man!  Don’t leave me here!”   
             “Arin?  How did you get down here?”  Dan’s voice came from…  Somewhere.  Arin couldn’t say wherefrom, it was like… All around?   
             “Dan?”  He looked about, but it was a useless venture because he was no less blind than before.  “Dude, hey, I’m sorry about earlier, but Brian just kind of put me down here and… I…  Where are you?  I don’t like this.”   
             “I’m right here, you’re fine.”   
             “Right where?  I can’t see anything…”  Arin felt a pressure against his back and he finally relaxed, leaning back against his best friend.  “Fuck.”   
             “Why did Brian bring you down here?”   
             “To find you, duh.”   
             “I figured that much.” Dan let out a few chuckles, Arin able to feel the laughter against his back, “I just want to know why he left you here.”   
             “I think I made him mad.”   
             “Brian?  You made  _ Brian _ mad?”  Dan replied, Arin able to practically  _ see _ the nonplussed expression from just his tone.  “He’s not mad.  He’s just fucking with you.”   
             “Sadist.” Arin sighed.   
              “Ydyrn.” Dan reminded playfully.   
             “Better than Ross, I guess.”   
             “We can agree on that.”  Arin felt a few of Dan’s gentle fingertips card through the hair hanging over his eyes.  They meticulously tucked each lock of hair away, making his body shiver with the familiar touch.   
             “Dan?”   
             “Yeah?”   
             “Can you actually  _ see _ me right now?”   
             “Not that well, but yes…”   
             “But, it’s so dark…”   
             “You remember how I said I have the place memorized?”   
             “Yeah, but, I’m not your ship…”   
             “That doesn’t mean I can’t have you memorized, still.” Dan whispered, Arin feeling hot breath on his neck.  He thought back to earlier, back to his being captive of Brian’s will and the darkness.  What if Dan tried to…  Hang on, stop, no.  Where on Earth did he acquire kinks like this?  Seriously?   
             “Are you feeling alright?” The hot voice on Arin’s neck, just behind his ears-- _ so close _ Arin could almost feel the lips against him--asked.   
             “Peachy.”  Arin tried to pass off, turning around to press his face into Dan’s solid chest.  Or…  Squishy chest?  Hold on…  Arin stepped back from the mass in front of him.   
               “Is something the matter?”  Arin felt a hand on his wrist, it was big and warm, Dan’s hand for sure…  Except it only had three fingers instead of five.  “Do you want me to take you back upstairs?”   
             “I think I’m fine…”  Arin let out a shaky breath, other than Brian who  _ was _ the ship, the only living things on board were himself and Dan…  He was talking to Dan, “Um, what were you doing down here?”  He tugged on his wrist that Dan had a hold of, but regretted the decision when Dan let go and Arin didn’t dare ask for it back.   _ Like holding hands is the most intimate thing you two have done? _  Arin thought to himself.   _ That was years ago… _ _ No, even just at work! _  Dan would have to touch him again if they were going to move, he would wait until that time.   
             “Mostly trying to calm down.” The darkness in front of Arin said again.  “Though, I remembered I have shit to sort down here.”   
             “Shit like?” Arin wondered aloud.   
             “I’ve collected a lot of stuff on my travels.  More than I can fit in either of the rooms I really spend time in.  I was thinking about giving you one of the rooms aboard since there are so many cabins.”  Dan explained, his head hooked downward to the silhouette of Arin.  Unsurprisingly, Arin was staring straight ahead as he and Dan were usually the same height.  He had thought about changing his form from his original shape, but…  Arin hadn’t said anything  _ yet _ and hadn’t screamed…  This was fine for now.   
             “Wow, really?!” Needless to say, Arin was down to clown with his own room on a spaceship.  It didn’t change the fact that this place was dark as shit…  But his own space would be pretty cool!  Haha, space.   
             “I thought you might like that idea.”  Dan suppressed the urge to smile, glowing was not an option right now.  At least he had come to more or less master his emotional chromatophores in the last three years.  The hardest part in all of that was not turning lavender when he blushed.  Keeping himself from literally glowing when he was excited had also proved a challenge.  “The cabins are sparse though…  And made for a species that doesn’t like padding too much, so you’d find everything very uncomfortable.”   
             “So, you have space furniture down here?”  Arin assumed, stumbling a little as he felt particularly off balance in the perfect dark.  He felt an arm wrap  _ around _ his forearm and did his best to not react to what basically felt like a tentacle steadying him.  “Thanks.” He said instead, his voice jumpy.   
             “Yes, there is a lot down here…  Do you want to come with me to one of the rooms?”   
             “I’d like that, yeah…  Something to do.”   
             “Cool beans.” Dan turned and tugged him along down the hall, Arin’s stride the only noise…   
             “Who says ‘cool beans’ anymore?”  Arin laughed at the expression.   
             “Obviously me.” Dan giggled, feeling Arin reach for his arm.  He let go faster than Arin’s hand could move.   
             “Whoa.”  Arin stopped dead, “Dude, I can’t see anything, I need your help here.”   
             “Oh.”  Dan reached back out, taking Arin’s wrist, “Is this good?”   
             “I, um…  Was more thinking like this.”  Arin slid his hand up, reaching for Dan’s fingers.   
             “ _ Oh _ .”  His fingers jittery, Dan slide a five-fingered hand into Arin’s grip.  He nearly laughed with delight as Arin opted to lace their fingers together.  This was all too good to be true.  “This good?” Dan gave his hand a squeeze.   
             “Yeah, we’re good.”  Arin smiled to the void, for once, however, he was glad for the lack of sight.  Dan couldn’t possibly tell that he was blushing, right?   
             “It’s just down this hallway.” Dan made sure to keep his distance as he guided Arin down through the halls, just enough so Arin wouldn’t accidentally nudge the rest of his body while walking.   
             “What’s that noise?” Arin asked, hearing a oscillating, droning sound grow louder.   
             “Brian’s gravity adjuster.”   
             “He has one of those?  He makes false gravity?”   
             “Sort of…  I’m going to be honest, I only know how to maintain it.  I don’t know how it works.  You would have to ask Brian that.”   
             “I’m sure it would all go right over my head…  His brain is probably the size of a semi-truck.” Arin laughed.   
             “Brian doesn’t have a brain, but his capacity for thought and memory storage is thousands of times more powerful and detailed than a human’s.”   
             “He must be so bored on Earth…”   
             “Far from it.” Dan assured, suppressing a smile again, “Hard as it is to believe, he loves Earth.”   
             “He seemed…  We were talking earlier…”   
             “Talking  _ to _ you or  _ through _ you?” Dan enquired.   
             “Both…”   
             “What did you talk about?”   
             “He didn’t seem very fond of…  A lot of things.”   
             “I’m sure his expressions through your body feel very different because he’s not entirely separate from his own during it.” Dan commented, “Brian can be hard to read, but, trust me, if he has an opinion on something, it’s a very strong one.  Bull-headed almost.”  Dan pulled Arin past a threshold into a room.  Arin was only aware of the scenery change as the echos of his footsteps were dampened and the gravity-mo-bob’s noise became muffled.  “Here we are.”   
             “Where is here?” Arin was loathe to let go of Dan’s hand, but he had come here to perform a task, obviously.   
             “Storage Bay…  Three.” Dan nodded to himself more than Arin.   
             “You have three  _ whole _ bays of stuff?”   
             “I’ve been all around four different galaxies,  _ yes _ , I have three bays of stuff.  Actually, it’s more like four.”  Dan stepped off into the realm of storage containers and furniture.  He banked that Arin would enjoy a cot of Miriodian make…  It was likely just as stained as the coitus quilt, but it would also be comfortable and sterile.  “In many cultures, it’s protocol to give gifts--some more utilitarian than others--when welcoming a stranger to your planet.” Dan tripped over a low footstool.  “Oof!”  Upon hitting the floor he stood up straight again, “Or you give gifts before entering a domicile.” He glowered down at the object and set it aside out of his footing.   
             “How many planets have you been to?”  Arin sat carefully down on the floor, the dizziness beginning to get to him.   
             “In the…” As usual, Dan had to do some quick converting, “Twenty years I served, I was assigned to twenty-eight planets.  The planets I had to hop to for other things that could not be achieved on the surfaces of my assigned planets make that range…  Somewhere between eighty and 100.  I’m not sure.”   
             Arin was speechless,  “There…  There are…   _ That many _ other planets out there?”   
             “That’s not even all of them.”  Dan continued to expound, picking up an object he knew to be a lightsource.  Arin would likely appreciate this.  He absorbed the object into his being, careful not to digest it as he moved along. “I’ve met somewhere around 300 different,  _ sentient _ lifeforms in my work.  Official numbers for sentient planets in contact and out of contact with various alliances are somewhere in the low thousands.  That’s just in the Andromeda, Messier dwarf, Milky-Way and Triangulum galaxies alone.”  Completely by accident, Dan came across the coitus quilt he had been thinking about.  Probably meant that the reclining cot was nearby somewhere.  He picked up the quilt as well and stored it inside.   
             “That’s…  That’s just…  _ Wooow _ .” Arin’s eyes were wide and starry at the very idea of so much diversity in a relatively  _ tiny _ section of space.  “Do you guys know of any planets outside of the galaxies?”   
             “Of course.  Talking to them is hard though.”  Dan shrugged as he found what was essentially a gourd of endless fluid wrapped in something akin to several rattan strings.  “I completely forgot I had this!” He stored  _ that _ in his body too.   
             “Found what?”   
             “Not important!” Dan called back, feeling his body expanded to a few times its normal size with the objects inside requiring space.  None of these objects were of Vysvian make and so, he could not make them denser and smaller without breaking them.   
             “So…  How old were you when you stopped serving?” Arin questioned, leaning his forehead onto his knees.   
             “Ah…  Thirty-four?”  He counted Earth as one of his assigned planets.   
             “So…  You were fourteen on your first mission?”   
             In his eagerness, Dan had forgotten that humans matured significantly slower than his own race did, “Training starts early.” He passed off easily.   
             “You were in space longer than you’ve ever been home.” Arin logically concluded.   
             “Yeah, I know it shows.     
             “Just you and Brian out here for twenty years…?”   
             “You make it sound horrible.” Dan chuckled.   
             “I guess it’s not, but…  I don’t know.  Your only company is your ship that you live inside.”   
             “I had plenty of company from…  Research subjects.” Dan brought up against his better judgement.   
             “What?”  Arin blinked.   
             “The universe has a lot of…” He paused to laugh at himself, “‘Hot alien sluts’ as it is.”   
             All at once, Arin suddenly felt that maybe it was entirely irrelevant than he and Dan had had something in the past.  He had been fussing with himself about when to bring it up and now it was…  It was just something Dan  _ did _ , apparently.   
             “Arin?  Are you okay?”   
             “I didn’t say anything.”   
             “No but…”   _ You felt something… _ Dan didn’t finish his words, grabbing onto one of the wooden handles of the Miriodian cot.   He lifted the solid piece of furniture above the other objects and his own head to walk it back to the unpopulated space by the door.  He would have to come back for it later, the thing weighed over 100 pounds.   
             “Did you find what you needed?” Arin questioned as he heard the very light noise of something being set down.   
             “Yes, as well as a few other things.  I’ll have to come back to get some other stuff later.”   
             “Doesn’t sound that heavy, maybe I can carry something?”   
             “No, you’re blind.” Dan pointed out with a good-natured tone, “I don’t want you falling and hurting yourself  _ and _ breaking something.”   
             “Cool.”  Arin floated in the warm darkness, trying not to think about Dan’s earlier admission.  “Are we going back upstairs?”   
             “C’mere.”  Arin felt Dan’s fingers playing with his and, as much as Arin wanted to take his hand, it felt different from earlier, “Okay, Ar, you can’t tell me something isn’t wrong.”   
             “Were we in love before?”   
             Dan’s hand fell away, “You…  Remembered all that?”   
             “Not all of it…  Just Valentine’s day.” A little more than that, but Arin felt that that memory was the most relevant to the moment.   
             “We were.” Dan whispered, voice just audible over the hums outside the room.   
             “Did we…  Break up, or something?”   
             “I suppose that’s what you would call the memory wipe…”   
             “It’s been a long time since then.”   
             “It has.”   
             They were both silent.  Arin floating in the darkness.   
             “Dan?”   
             “Yes?”   
             “Just checking you were there…”   
             “I’m not going anywhere.”   
             “Did we…  Have sex?”   
             Dan  _ laughed _ , nearly curling in on himself with the musical noise, “ _ Yes _ , Arin.  We had sex.   _ Lots _ of it.”   
             “Was it any good?” Arin smiled to himself at the self-conscious, ridiculous question.  “Did I tickle your pickle just right?”   
             “Oh my god, stop talking.” Dan continued to laugh, “My shween was so amazed, yes.”   
             “Glad to know I’m great with dudes too.  Ol’ playin’ the skin-flute for so many years paid off.”   
             “We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”   
             “I don’t think I don’t want to talk about it…  I just don’t know where we are, then.”   
             “Where we have been?  You don’t have to do or say anything you don’t want to.”   
             “But what do  _ you _ want to do…?”   
             “I’m not in a place to answer that.  I would love to…”  Dan searched for the right words, his fingertips grazing the nubs of pearls but unable to grab them.  “To, uh, y-you know…  Talk more about this and… And m-maybe see where we are right now, but…  For the moment I have to say…  I have to say that there is something bigger than our relationship happening and it takes precedence.”   
             “You really are a scientist, aren’t you?”   
             “It’s why I’ve been alone for so long.”  Dan failed to mention that he also just felt little to no inclination whatsoever to seek out romantic attachment until Arin came along.  He also had not felt such attachment since…  That was more complicated than necessary.   
             “If this turns out okay?”   
             “Once you remember more…  We can talk about it.”   
             “Can you help me up?”   
             Dan reached down, wrapping a hand around Arin’s to gently help him to his feet, “You were dizzy earlier, do you need help walking?”   
             “I might need help going up the ladders…” Arin admitted, squeezing the hand in his.  He stepped closer to Dan, half expecting him to move away.  When it didn’t happen, he put his other hand out to feel his body.  It was  _ definitely _ not a human body, he didn’t feel clothes over the solid structure of Dan’s chest, no chest becoming ribs or an abdomen.  It was solid plains of smooth, dry, almost rubbery skin--powdered rubber, maybe, but without the residue.  What did it look like in the light?  Was it shiny?  Or was it see-through?  Opaque?  What color was this odd kind of skin?  It was  _ foreign _ , unlike anything Arin had ever touched, it was new and slightly off-putting, but...   _ Dan _ was warm and soft.   
             “Arin…”  Dan grew nervous at his silence, but relaxed when Arin put his arms around him and squeezed, his squishy, alien body conforming to every curve of Arin’s.  The pearl inside him quivered and pulsed with this contact, it was…  So amazing to get to feel it again, so acutely.  Hesitating at first, Dan raised his two primary arms, then a few others…  He wrapped two around Arin’s hands on his back, two more around Arin’s shoulders and two around his midsection in a full-body hug.   
             Arin squeezed harder in his hug and Dan squeezed back, gathering Arin all the closer against him.  The human felt like this was where he belonged, wrapped up completely in Dan, whether it was literally or figuratively.  This felt familiar, it felt like  _ home _ .   
  
_ Arin shifted in the darkness, “Mmng…”  His bed was warm, but last he knew, it was empty other than himself.  He moved to sit up, but found it nearly impossible as a number of arms were wrapped around him.  They weren’t tight, but they were firm enough to discourage too much movement.  Arin sighed, smiling as he nuzzled into the warm, living blanket around him.  The tips of two arms swirled around his naked hip innocently, almost tickling. _ _  
_ _              “Done for the night, Babe?” Arin asked, closing his eyes and pressing back into the soft cocoon of his lover’s body. _ _  
_ _              “Mm?” The voice behind him muttered, “What?” _ _  
_ _              “Did I wake you?” _ _  
_ _              “Mn, yes.  Something wrong, Big Cat?” _ _  
_ _              Arin let out a content sigh at the nickname, “No, just asking about your report.” _ _  
_ _              “Was good.  Left out the debacle above Taeotquin.  Seeing as I don’t know anything about it.” The words Arin heard were in his head, Dan hadn’t mastered English yet.  “I would’ve sent my condolences to the Far Depths, but Brian’s pod is all gone.  No one lives there anymore.” _ _  
_ _              “Oh…”  Arin shrank further into his lover, kissing an arm that was near his face.  “Not even more of your people?” _ _  
_ _              “None that would’ve conversed enough with the pod to miss them.” _ _  
_ _              “That’s sad…  I’m going back to sleep.” _ _  
_ _              “Sweet dreams.” _ _  
_ __   
             With the memory finished, Arin snuggled further into the arms.  He could’ve fallen asleep standing up here if not for the fact that he had been doing a  _ lot _ of sleeping recently.  Mostly out of boredom.  Dan remained silent, beginning to stroke his back with a tendril.   
             “Let’s go back upstairs.” Arin mumbled, his face pressed into Dan’s invisible body.   
  
             Back up in the light, it felt as if nothing had changed.  Though under one arm Dan held the objects retrieved from the storage bays, nothing seemed to mark what had transpired.  Dan looked as human as ever, and just as thoughtful as before.  The hallway to the cockpit, though familiar, was no different, there was no cascade of memory, it just felt like routine.   
             “Is that a tie-dyed blanket?” Arin asked at the quilt that appeared spattered with so many different colors it was difficult to tell what its original color even was.  Streaks of red, blue, yellow, green and violet painted all over its stitched surface in lines, sprays and splashes.  By how thick the folded piece was, it was probably very expansive, around the same size as a king-size comforter.   
             “Uh, we’ll call it that for now.” Dan nodded, handing the blanket off to Arin.   
             “Do I even want to know?”   
             “Probably not.”   
             “Okay…”  Arin looked at the blanket with some suspicion, but it really just looked like someone dragged it through a mess of different dyes.   
             “You can keep that for now, it’s warmer than the sheets I gave you before.”  Dan nodded, stepping about the cockpit to sit down the other objects he had brought up with him.   
             Arin stood quietly with the blanket, watching Dan move around the room.  There was an otherworldly grace to his movements and now Arin understood why.  Dan was too beautiful and too unique to be from Earth…  He supposed he had always known it in some small way.   
             “You’re staring.” Dan pointed out.   
             “Uh, no I’m not.”   
             Dan turned to look over his shoulder at him, “Brian told me.”   
             “Shut the fuck up, Brian.” Arin grumbled, walking over to his table…  He tossed the quilt up onto the table but made no move to try to get up onto it..  Taking a deep breath, he asked, “How tall are you?”   
              “Uh, same as you?” Dan looked up from a screen with rows of scrolling script.   
             “No, how  _ tall _ are you.” Arin kept his eyes on the exam table.   
             “I-I’ve never measured...”   
             “Really?”   
             “Does it matter?”   
             “I’m only curious.”   
             “I’m sure you’ll remember eventually…”   
             “You sound self-conscious.  C’mon, man, you know it’s all about knowing how to  _ use _ it.”   
             “Oh god, Arin, are we even talking about the same thing anymore?” Dan laughed, feeling the tension between them ebb.   
             “Were we ever?”  Arin looked away from the pile of blankets on top of the tall table to smile at Dan.   
             “I thought we were…” Dan gazed back down at the read-out beneath him.  There was some higher than normal stress on some of Brian’s outer shell.  He would have to talk to someone once they were in the Industrial Cluster about examining the spot.  For now, he had to attempt to ease the pressure off.  Dan stepped past Arin to his control console, easily pulling himself up, “Brian, I’m going to slow you down.”   
             “Why are we slowing down?” Arin asked, following Dan up to the console to lean against it, staring up at him.  Once he touched the pedestal though, he was lost to a memory.  Whatever it was that Dan said, Arin didn’t catch a word of it.  It amazed him how easily so much of it was now coming back after  _ days _ of nothing.  Was his relationship with Dan really the trigger for all of this?   
             “Arin…  Are you okay?”  When Arin came back to, Dan was standing in front of him, holding him steady with his large hands.  Their faces were close to each other…  Arin was used to this, but the memory just made this all the more familiar.   
             “Dan, kiss me.”   
             Dan’s body stiffened at the request, “What? Why?” Was his skin turning…  Purple?   
             “I was remembering something and I really…  I think…  I think you should kiss me.”   
             “Like, on the cheek?” Okay, he apparently was still not getting it.   
             “No, on my mouth.  Right here.”  Arin tapped his lips with a finger.   
             “Why?”   
             “Because I think it will help me remember something!”   
             “Remember  _ what _ ?” Dan tried to cringe away, this was too intimate.  This was like downstairs, he couldn’t do this to himself.  He shouldn’t have let what transpired in the storage bays happen at all.  This was only going to hurt more in the end.   
             “I don’t know!  Something I’ve forgotten!  Please, Dan.  Kiss me.”   
             “Arin, I…”  He stared at his best friend, their bodies arched into one another as if they had been doing this for years.  His left hand trailed up Arin’s neck and face and threaded up into his hair.  Arin’s hair was even longer now than it was then…  That first time they  _ actually _ kissed…  Dan leaned in, pressing their lips together, his need for the contact greater than his apprehensions.   
  
_   Arin let out a breath, clinging tighter onto Dan, chasing his mouth as he tried to break the kiss, ensnaring his partner’s again easily…. …  The constant vibration of Dan’s body wasn’t helping the fact that they were pressed flush to one another and Arin’s dick was more than responsive.  He let out a tiny moan, flitting his tongue out over Dan’s lips, hoping that the skin-to-skin contact told Dan what he was supposed to do with this. …  …  …  ...high, musical noise.  Dan lapped at Arin’s proffered tongue and pressed their faces closer together, letting his eyes flutter closed.  His arms tightened around Arin, shifting to lift the shorter man up off the ground and against him… _ _  
_ _  
_ __ _ “I’m cool with that, man.  Don’t even worry about it.  I’m out in space, farther than any human has been, and to make it even better, I’m out here with you.” _ _  
_ _              “I’m the worst tour-guide in existence, I know.” _ _  
_ _              “That’s funny because there’s no tour-guide I’d rather have.”  Arin lifted himself up onto the tips of his toes as far as he could and pressed his lips to the underside of Dan’s head… _ _  
_ _  
_ __ Arin broke away before Dan did, backing up and gasping at the explosion in his head.  So many fucking sensations and colors and…  Dan was taller than him?  Since when?  What in…?  He looked back to Dan who still grasped at the air as if Arin were in his arms.   
             “That was….”  Arin was panting, able to feel the half chub in his sweat pants.  “We were… Um…”  He was blushing, he couldn’t look at Dan.  He couldn’t look at him with that forlorn expression on his gorgeous face.  Not with the beginnings of a fuckin’ boner, holy fuck.  “We were going to Cazty…  After what had happened above, um… Gumball planet.”   
             Dan dropped his arms to his sides, “Taeotquin.”   
             “Yeah…  I remembered being thrown back from…  Over here.”  Arin motioned to the general section around the console.  “It felt…”  he looked to Dan and frowned, “Dude…  Do you need a second?”   
             “No, I’m,” Dan stood up straight again, smiling as best he could, “Emotional.”   
             “Sorry about that…”  Arin licked his lips, he had been more caught up in the memory of the prior kiss.  Dan, it seemed, had been more about the one that they had just had.  Arin couldn’t blame him…  It had been years for him.  Though, Arin also smoothed his anxieties over with the knowledge that he was  _ likely _ just another of Dan’s flings back in the day.   
             “No, don’t worry about it.”  Dan became pensive, “Physical acts seem to be the best way to get you to remember stuff.”  The man then winced as if hearing something very loud.   
             “Brian singing the ‘I told you so,’ song?” Arin assumed with a smirk.   
             “Doing everything but singing.” Dan answered the question, “Fuck you, Brian.”  Addressing Arin again, Dan hypothesized “I wonder if walking you through the day-by-day happenings of that trip will do the trick…?”   
             “Do we really have time for that?” Arin raised an eyebrow.  “Or did slowing us down add any time to our trip?”   
             “No, we have around the same travel time.  Maybe a few extra  _ hours _ at most, but not much to do anything with.” Dan waved a hand at the trivial amount of time.  “We have the time, but there are other things I have to do to get ready…”   
             “Like what?”   
              “I have to get dressed, recite my greeting speech…   _ Rewrite  _ my greeting speech…”   
             “You can get all that done in like, an hour, what’s the big deal?”   
             Dan bristled slightly, “It takes longer than you’d think to get dressed in those envoy vestments.”   
             “Oh, right, you’re gonna look like a stripper or something.”   
             Dan sighed, shaking his head, “There’s more to it than the three sheets of fabric you saw.  There’s ornamentations and, agh,” he made a frustrated hand gesture, “it’s all very complicated and stupid.”   
             “So… Why not just…  Not do it?”   
             “Are you kidding me right now, Arin?”   
             “You’re not officially an envoy anymore, right?  I mean, I don’t have to appear in anything fancy, obviously.” Arin motioned to his black shirt and Hello Kitty pajamas.   
             “To be honest, they’ve never seen humans before, so, they’ll probably just assume that  _ that’s _ your Sunday best.”   
             “Are you shitting me?”   
             “Nope.” Dan smiled smugly, “You’re setting a precedent.  Human ambassadors might be expected to show up in pajamas from now on.”   
             “Could I walk in there naked?”   
             “Arin, you could walk in there wearing a garbage bag and partyhat, dick in the wind and they would think that’s what formal clothes on Earth look like.”   
              “No judgement?” Oh no, he was honestly considering it.   
              “Ah, ah… None from  _ me _ anyway.  They might just end up judging the whole planet, but, eh, it’s a room full of interplanetary relations professionals.  They would  _ never _ say anything about your clothes if they have no idea what they’re supposed to look like.”   
             “Come on, man!  Let’s do it!  Let’s go in our pajamas!”   
             Dan laughed, “I can’t believe you right now.” He raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, still smiling.  “The fact remains,  _ I _ have been there before.  Most of the ambassadors and other envoys know me, I have expectations.”   
             “I thought you said that they had never seen humans before?” Arin raised an eyebrow.   
             “Well, they haven’t I….” Dan stared across the relatively small space at Arin.  An awkward moment passed between them where Dan wasn’t sure if he should just skip over the question or wonder if Arin’s short-term memory was  _ that _ bad.  He stood up straighter, hummed, and furrowed his brows suspiciously.   
             “What?  It’s an honest question.” Arin pressed his lips together firmly, “I mean, you did say that.”   
             “Arin… You… Are aware… That…?”   
             “Aware of what?”   
             Dan stared some more, puckering his lips as he tried to get a better handle on what Arin was going for.  Was he trying to be funny?  Had he really not figured it out?  Had he not  _ remembered _ what Dan actually looked like?  During their few days aboard Brian years ago, Dan had spent most of his time in his natural form.  However…  Arin had also already seen Dan in his natural form and that had done zip for his memory, maybe Arin hadn’t connected the instances yet?   
             “Are you okay over there?”   
             “Yes, I’m fine, anyway, you’ve made a lot of progress today.”  Dan began to wander towards the exit of the cockpit.   
             “Wait, where are you going?”  Arin moved to follow him.   
             “I need to go converse with Brian about something.”   
             “Can’t you do that here? I can talk with Brian just fine here.”   
             “I mean directly.  I have some questions to throw at him and I don’t want there to be possible ambiguity.”   
             “Can he just talk through you?  He does it with me all the time.” Arin questioned, Dan detecting no traces of falsehood in his question.   
             “Um…  Brian can’t do that with me.”   
             “Why not?  I thought it was like… Something having to do with the human nervous system.”   
             Oh no, “Arin, you remember the storage bay, right?”   
             “Yep.”   
             “And…  What did you think of…  Hugging me?”   
             “It was nice.  I remembered something during it.”   
             “Okay, what did you remember?”   
             “We were cuddling… Uh… In bed.” Arin blushed, “You were talking about reports, or something…”   
             “That’s unhelpful, okay…  I’ll just ask.  Do you  _ really _ still think I’m human?”   
             Arin had a spacy expression for a second, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”   
             “Oh...  Hell…  Arin, I’m an alien.”   
             There was that expression again, “Huh?”   
             “Was that a ‘huh I didn’t hear you’ or a ‘huh, are you really’?”   
             “Are you really what?”   
             “I’m really an alien, like, not human at all.”   
             That same expression once more…  “Can you say that again?  Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”  Well…   _ That _ was going to be a problem.


	5. Movement IV: I Lost My Way, When I Lost My Star

_ “It feels completely hopeless, Bryrrna.” _ Dan lamented to his partner, Brian’s  _ zaaytyr _ curled around his body.  As Dan floated in the comforting warmth of the Vysvian water sample, his life’s best friend linked with him, he peered out of the tank.  Arin was sleeping on the reclining couch, still passed out from earlier.   
_ “You could try going into Arin’s head directly and trying to find the problem?” _  Brian tenderly suggested, the end of his  _ zaaytyr _ brushing what Dan had for a cheek.   _ “Can you tell me what happened?  Lyrda?” _   
_ “Yeah….” _ _  
_ _  
_ _              “Holy fuck!  Who are you?!”  Arin had yelled upon first sight of Dan’s birth form. _ _  
_ _              “Arin… It’s me…”  Dan pathetically warbled, his gelatinous body an unsettling shade of pink, turning deep red, in worry.  “Danny…” _ _  
_ _              “Danny…?”  Arin took a few steps towards the alien, Dan was a whole two feet taller than Arin in his original body.  “You’re… Danny…?  That’s really funny…  That’s my best friend’s name.  Does he know you’re on his ship?” _ _  
_ _              “No, Arin, listen, I  _ **_am_ ** _ your friend Dan.” _ _  
_ _              “Huh?”  Arin blinked up at him, a blank expression flitting over his face, “I’m sorry jelly-dude, can you repeat that?” _ _  
_ _              “My name is Leigh Daniel Avidan!” Danny desperately shrieked, “I’m your best friend!” _ _  
_ _              “You mean you have the same name as my best friend?” Arin assumed, still not getting it somehow.  “Does my Dan know you’re on board?” He asked again as if he had forgotten... _ _  
_ _              “No, Arin…  This is my ship.  Bryrrna, he’s been my partner for twenty years and was my professor in school before that.” _ _  
_ _              “No… Brian was Dan’s--” _ _  
_ _              “Danny is an alien!  An  _ **_alien_ ** _ , Arin!   _ **_I. Am. An. Alien_ ** _!” _ _  
_ _              “Why are you talking about yourself in the third person?” Arin backed away, suddenly apprehensive as Dan’s body burned with the white light of frustration turned to anger. _ _  
_ _              “No, Arin…  I…  No.  Danny,  _ **_your_ ** _ Danny, Danny Sexbang, I am Danny Sexbang!  I am Dan Avidan!  We are the same person!” _ _  
_ _              “Okay…  Danny… Uhm…  You’re making me way nervous right now.”  Arin flinched back several feet, nearly tripping over backwards as Dan reached out to grab his wrist, “Whoa!  Hands off!  Er… Tentacles off!  I don’t roll that way!” _ _  
_ _              “ _ **_Aaarin_ ** _!” _ _  
_ _              “What?!” Arin shouted back, Danny detecting that he was past confused and was now into the angry stage of his befuddlement. _ _  
_ _              “Why don’t you remember!?  I’m right here!  I’m talking to you!  I shape-shifted in front of you!  You still don’t…  Oh no…” _ _  
_ _              “Oh… No?” _ _  
_ _              “I think…  I might have…  The machine… I…  The one I erased your memories with.” _ _  
_ _              “The one Dan eras--” _ _  
_ _              “I erased your memories with it.  I am Dan.” _ _  
_ _              “So you did it, not Dan?  He didn’t tell me that.”  Arin snorted, adding quickly after, “Figures, more fucking secrets.” _ _  
_ _              “Arin… No… I….  This isn’t going to work.”  Danny realized out loud, lifting his hands and tentacles up to cover his optical receptors as his whole body turned an inky purple. _ _  
_ _              “Hey… I’m…  I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry, man.  Don’t be sad.”  Arin stepped up, closer to his body, but didn’t dare touch him. _ _  
_ _              “Arin, I need you to look at me.  Don’t blink, don’t look away for even a second.  I need to test something.” _ _  
_ _              “Um… Okay?”  Arin took a few steps back and planted his feet, staring at Dan so intensely Dan could almost feel holes work their way through his integument layer. _ _  
_ _              Slowly, as slowly as Dan was able to control his cells--which was quite slow--he shifted himself back into his human form.  All the while, his eyes were trained on Arin’s face.  About halfway through, however, Arin’s face morphed from one of calm interest, to panic to just…  Well, he flat out lost consciousness and fell over. _ _  
_ _              “Arin!”  Dan groped forward, nearly tripping over his half-formed legs as he caught Arin.  “Buddy?”  He patted Arin’s cheek, trying to rouse him, to no avail.  He was out cold…  Against his better judgement, Danny pressed a tentacle to his temple, entering the scape of Arin’s mind.  There wasn’t much going on inside, but his brain was fine for the moment, it appeared that he had skipped all the other stage of sleep and had just dropped straight into stage four…  It was going to be very difficult to rouse him.  As much as he didn’t want to leave and wanted to watch Arin dream, Dan had ascertained the knowledge he needed and retracted himself from Arin’s mind.  “Fuck me.” He sighed. _ _  
_ _  
_ _              “This is quite the predicament.”   _ Brian admitted as Dan ended the memory.   
_ “Arin thinks that my human form and me now are entirely different people…  No matter how many times I tried to tell Arin.  And, as you saw…  Transforming in front of Arin achieves nothing but this.”   _ Dan cast a tentacle in the direction Arin was in.   
             “Mng…”  Dan heard from outside of his “tank.”   
             Dan shifted to his human form as Arin moved on the bed, releasing Brian’s  _ zaaytyr  _ and pressing the button to release the lid.  Grabbing the sides of the tank, Dan, in the nude, pulled himself out and dropped down to the floor.   
             “Arin?”  Dan came to kneel at the side of the bed-couch, “Are you okay?  You’ve been out since yesterday…”   
             “Mng,” Arin blinked and sat up, inspecting Dan’s face tiredly, “fuck, man.”   
             “Great, I know your cursing module works, but how is the rest of you?”   
             “Did you know there’s another alien onboard?”  Arin asked, sitting up, “It looks like that glowy-glowy guy from that Solgirian ship we were on.”   
             “Arin, I’ve tried multiple times to tell you, that’s  _ me _ .  I am an alien…”   
             “What was that last part?”   
             “Fuck it.  Forget it, Arin.”  Dan stood up, sighing.   
             “Whoa!”  Arin leaned backwards on the couch, “Where are your clothes?” His eyes couldn’t help but fix on the wing-ding-doodle dangling near his mouth.   
              “Oh…  Sorry.”  Dan strode over to where he had folded his clothes, unaware of the way Arin stared at his butt as he moved.   
             “Were you… In there?”  Arin motioned to the tank, seeing the lid was up and the “ethernet cable” to Brian’s consciousness was uncurled, floating around.   
              “Yeah, I was having some personal time with Brian.” Dan answered, not for a second considering human implications of such a statement.   
              “Uh… Naked… With…  That tentacle thing?” Arin pointed, suppressing the smirk on his lips.   
             Dan’s face dropped as he pulled his boxers up around his hips, “Oh, come  _ on _ , Arin.”   
             “Hey, you’re the one that just had ‘personal time’ with your best buddy, naked, in a tank of water, with a tentacle thing.”   
             “That ‘tentacle thing’ is called a  _ zaaytyr _ , and it--”   
             “Link to Brian’s consciousness, Brian told me earlier.” Arin stopped him, chuckling as he raised a hand as if to pet Dan to calm him down.  Arin watched as Dan grumbled under his breath and continued to pull clothes on.  Dan was undoubtedly stressed about something, but Arin had no recollection of what it could be.  Other than their current predicament, of course…  “So, dude…  That zah-ee-thingy…  It works for humans?”   
              Dan slumped, “No, Arin, it doesn’t.  You need to be a touch telepath for it to work.”   
              “But…  You just used it…”   
             “Yes, because I’m  _ not _ human!” Dan turned around to face him, catching Arin’s blank expression for the millionth time.  That look  _ infuriated _ him as much as it made him sad and depressed.   
             “I’m sorry, what?”   
             “Fuck.  Arin, do you want something to eat?” Dan offered, they only had about two days left of their travel and one of those days wasn’t even a whole day.  This wasn’t going well.  Arin didn’t even  _ recognize _ him in the form he was going to be presenting as for the meeting!  This was worse than one disaster, it was  _ several _ compounding disasters!   
             “Sure…”  Arin stood up once Dan pulled his hair back and tied it there, forgoing a shirt.  “Dude…  I…  I don’t know what I did, but, can you chill out a bit?”   
             Dan bristled at the very  _ notion _ that he needed to “chill out a bit” at this.  This was fucking awful!  His brows knitted together and he was about to deliver some biting remark--which he wasn’t even  _ good _ at, sweet cinnamon roll he was--but he saw Arin’s face.  Arin didn’t remember any of his yelling earlier…  Or, if he did, Arin didn’t attribute any of it to him.  His best friend  _ truthfully _ had no fucking idea what was going on.  All Dan was doing was being the “grump” in this situation.   
             “It’s not your fault.” Dan assured him, raising his hands up to rub over his face.  He stared up at the blue, fleshy insides of Brian--just beyond the transparent, piezokinetic-energy-collecting dome--releasing a breath when he felt Arin’s hand alight on his bicep.  Turning his head slowly, he blinked to find Arin’s face very close to his, “What’s up?”   
             “Can I kiss you?” Arin quietly asked, as if he wanted it to be a secret from the all-aware whale around them.   
             “Trying to remember something again?” Dan assumed.   
             “No.  I just want to kiss you.”   
             “O-O-Oh… Um… A-Arin…  Is that a g-good…?” Dan trailed off, heaving a fake breath from his chest--or, less fake or simulated as Dan had successfully acclimated to using inspirations and aspirations of airflow to punctuate emotions--staring Arin down.   
             “I don’t know, but… I’ve…  You know, been thinking about it a lot.”   
             Dan snorted, “Since yesterday, you mean?”  When had Arin even had the time to?   
             “No.” Arin admitted.  “Since…  For a long time.”   
             Any light of amusement dropped from Dan’s face as the two continued to examine each other’s faces, “Oh.”   
             “Can I?”   
             “Y-Yes?”  Dan almost squeaked his answer was so timid.   
             Arin brushed their lips together.  It was short and sweet…  Dan didn’t feel Arin’s body tensing or feel any sort of rush of impulses from Arin in general.  He was in the moment with him, experiencing this with him.  Dan pushed his lips back against his friend’s, lifting a bare arm up to hook it around Arin’s midsection.   
             “Have you missed this?” Arin asked, taking their lips apart.  It almost seemed like a loaded question, but Dan couldn’t discern what answers Arin wanted.  Not without delving into his consciousness, which would have been rude.   
             “Of course I have.” Dan didn’t dare reinitiate the kiss as much as he wanted to.   
             “Can we get breakfast now?”   
             Dan chuckled, “Sure, Big Cat.”   
  
_ “Tactile memory, Dan.  That might work.”   _ Brian sent images to Dan’s mind as the two men walked through the darkness down to the kitchen.   
             Dan nodded but didn’t respond to Brian, this didn’t seem like something he wanted to discuss around Arin right now.   
_ “Since Arin remembered something yesterday from hugging you and didn’t immediately forget it.” _   
             Dan nodded once more, wondering if he could assume his natural shape while they were in the kitchen.  There was a light on the sustenance rethermalizer, as well as a faint, red glow throughout the room from a single light.  Perhaps he could merely take…  The scenic route to the kitchen?   
             “Let’s go this way today.  I, uh, need to check on something on the lower decks first.” The man lied, but it wasn’t easy.  He was still bad at it and only hoped that Arin wouldn’t ask what those things were.   
             As Arin was more focused on not falling over in the darkness--he was hugging the wall as well as attached to one of Danny’s belt loops--he hardly registered the admission, “What did you say?”   
             “We have to go to the lower decks before we eat.” Dan reiterated.   
             “Why?  I’m super hungry, dude…”   
             “Um, well…  What about…  After we eat, then?”   
             “Better.” Arin agreed, clinging harder to Dan’s belt loop as he knew there was going to be a hole in the floor coming up soon.  “Don’t let me fall, okay?”   
             “Dude, I’m just so going to let you plummet four stories down with no reason whatsoever.” Danny teased in a flat voice.   
             “I always knew you were secretly out to kill me.  There was just something  _ too nice _ about you.” Arin chuckled as he listened for Dan to crawl into the tube and  _ slowly _ inch towards the hole himself, backwards, on his knees.  Inside, Dan berated himself the whole way for not remembering to bring the damn light source with him, but, that would’ve ruined his future plans anyway, right?   
  
             “That thing goes to Brian’s stomach, right?” Arin pointed with his fork over to the giant metal iris in the wall.  The red light that dimly illuminated the whole room was right above it.   
             “Yes, it does.”  Dan agreed, relaxing back in a chair he had called up from the ground.  Meanwhile, Arin leaned against the counter in the side of the wall, poking at his previously frozen tray of pasta.  “I haven’t fed him in a few days, he’s starting to get cranky about it.”   
             “You’re starving him?” Arin could hardly believe it!   
             “No, not starving him.  If I don’t feed him, it’s less energy his body has to use to digest the food, more to dedicate to the long-distance travel.  It’s also depleting some of the...  We’ll say ‘sugar stores’ in his body.”  Dan forked some chicken into his mouth, sucking on the meat and realizing that he hadn’t rethermalized it long enough as there were still ice crystals in the middle.  Nevermind that, he didn’t want to risk melting the plastic.  “His anatomy works sort of like a human’s does with excess nutrients.  It gets stored for later use.  During Brian’s travel heyday, it was necessary for me to feed him every day because his ‘sugar stores’ were either low or depleted.  Right now, he’s got auxillary fuel to run off of, so to speak.  It takes his body less energy to just ‘pop open’ the energy stores.”  Dan took another bite as he casually explained, but added at the last moment, “His hydrogen sacs won’t refill once we reach Lodora, however, if I don’t feed him beforehand.”   
             “If it’s not causing him pain, why is he getting cranky about it?”  Arin wondered aloud.   
             “To a degree, it does hurt, but he and I discussed it the other day.  He opted for me to do it, so, I’m keeping my promise no matter what he says.”  Dan finished off his meal and stepped up to the iris, “Are you done with yours?”   
             “Uh, yeah.”  Arin scraped the last of the sauce and cheese from the bottom of his tray and walked over to Dan with it.  “What are you going to do with it?”   
             “Feed it to Brian.”  Dan took the plate, noticing how Arin cringed, “He’s capable of converting anything into energy.  Brian could drink straight crude oil and it wouldn’t affect him.”  Dan pounded on the iris, watching it slide open wide enough to push the two plastic bits of garbage through.  He pounded a different second of the wall around the iris, making sure the hole to the hot, noxious interior of Brian’s digestive track snapped shut all the way.  “The positives of technological augmentations.” Dan commented.   
             “The way you said that…  Doesn’t make it sound so positive.”   
             Dan sighed, “There are many positives and negatives to the augmentations.  One is that Ydyrn are already long-lived by comparison to their natural partners, but the augmentations and life support systems carry their ages centuries past their natural limits.”   
             Arin grimaced, “He will long outlive you?”   
             “And you, and Rachel and his own daughter.” Dan shrugged, “It’s not something either of us consider.  We’re more…  Live in the moment people.”   
             “So, Ydyrn will take other captains?” Arin assumed, following after Dan as he began to drift towards the exit of the kitchen.   
             “Traditionally, no.  Back in the old days, when we…  When Vysvaa was in the war with the Gekur and even other wars, life expectancies weren’t the best for ships and their captains.  There was something of a ritualistic kind of suicide that would take place if a ydyrn’s captain was killed by the enemy.  The hope would be to take the enemy with them into death…  Or, if a ydyrn died while in space, the captain was expected to accept death with them.  The psychological consequences of losing your life’s partner and living without them are grave for the Zilbyrgh.”   
             Arin remained silent, his mind racing a mile a minute over what was going to happen after Dan died.  Or what would happen if Brian ever died on Dan…  It was a long ways from either happening, but he couldn’t stop the thoughts from coming.   
             “What if the zilbyrgh captain had two Bondeds?”   
             Dan paused and looked back to Arin, “I’m surprised you remember that, but…  Most of the time, captains are not expected to Bond.  We are…  Undesirable.”  Not that Dan ever cared about that, though he occasionally bemoaned it, it was convenient for him, really.   
             “Did you say ‘we are’?”  Arin asked, Dan rolling his eyes.   
             “I’m an alien, Arin.”   
             “Sorry, what was that?”   
             Well, at least this irritating development made Arin more like an etch-a-sketch than ever--never happened!  “Less traditionally, but is becoming more popular in these times of peace, the Zilbyrgh are capable of parthenogenesis.”   
             “Pah-wah?”   
             “Self-replication.  They can produce an offspring that is genetically identical to them without needing a partner.  There are usually legal sanctions on the act, but, it is allowed to produce an heir to be raised by the ydyrn whose captain is growing old.”   
             Arin’s mouth dipped open in utter amazement, “Really?”   
             Dan preferred to not think about it…  “Yes.  Now, I need to go do that looking around downstairs, come on.”   
  
              “What are you looking for down here?”  Arin clung tightly to a squishy arm, the sensation neither unfamiliar to him nor unpleasant.  He recalled the previous day’s adventure in the storage bays.  This was Dan…  Nothing more.   
             “Ah, a module.  Don’t worry about it.” Dan brought Arin closer to him in the darkness. “I’m sort of just enjoying the time with you.” He admitted.   
             “Can’t resist my charms, huh?”   
             “Arin…”   
             “Was I right?” Arin chuckled, leaning against what felt like a moving waterbed next to him.   
             “I…  Y-yes.”   
             “Are you…  Sure you want to wait to talk about this?”   
             “Aren’t you making very…  Um…  Sudden decisions here?” Dan hoped the answer would be ‘no’...  He was more than ready for this after so long.   
             “Do you…  Think I am?  I’m just…”  Arin thought, reaching an arm around Dan’s body, running a hand down the smooth, rubbery expanse of his skin.  “I don’t know.  I’ve been…  Wondering…  I’ve seen that we used to be, you know, a thing.  So, that  _ does _ make me bi, right?”   
             “Arin, it’s not something you need to worry yourself with.”   
             “You’ve always told me you’re straight…” Arin mumbled against the invisible skin of his friend.   
             “I needed to protect myself.”   
             “From…?  Did I do something wrong?”  Arin shifted to stand up straight off him as they stopped walking.  He felt a second arm encircle him, however, and though better of it.  He didn’t question how he knew Dan had more than two arms in the moment, it felt natural…   
             “You did nothing wrong, Arin.  I…  I just didn’t want it to be possible for us to…  Without you allowed to remember everything.  You would eventually find out and then…  There were horrible consequences at the time.  I’m not sure how everything is now going to work out once we go back to Earth.  You know too much.”   
             “Oh…”  Arin leaned his whole body into Dan.   
             “Lou is the only one that will remember you being there, though…  I might…”   
             “What’s his deal?”   
             “I don’t know what he is, really, I know he’s only half human.”  Dan continued walking, squeezing Arin tightly against him.  “He’s not told me what his second parent is.  Only that his birth killed his human mother.”   
             “Wow…  Aliens can breed with humans?”   
             “The carbon-based ones only, I’d imagine.  I don’t know which one he is though, like I’ve said.  He won’t tell me, but, he has been able to tell me why he’s named Lieutenant.”   
             “Because his… Dad?  If that’s what the other alien counts as…  Um, because his dad wanted him in the military?”   
             “Lieutenant means ‘placeholder’ in French.”   
             Arin went silent, “Oh…”   
             “He prefers to be called Lou.”   
             “I’ll remember that… If I see him again.”   
             “Anyway, Arin…  I guess we should talk about it.  Since, er, physical memory is the best for you.”   
             Arin audibly gulped, “Are those the…  ‘Invasive methods’ that were talked about before?”   
            “Are what?”   
            “It’s my job to play dumb, Dan.  You know what I mean.”   
            “Eventually…  You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Arin.  We can find other ways.  I hope.”   
            “It doesn’t…  Sound that bad?  I mean…  Just for utilitarian purposes?”   
            Dan resisted the urge to stop talking altogether.  It wouldn’t be making love to Arin.  It would be…  A necessary evil.  He wasn’t sure if he could handle that…   
            “I mean, we used to have sex all the time right?  It’ll be fun.”  Arin tried to sound chipper, but Dan knew it was all manufactured.  “Danny?  Are you okay?”  Arin squeezed him tighter, pressing his face into the odd texture of his best friend’s body.  Then…  He blew a raspberry against his rippling body.   
             “Heeeey!”  Dan twisted away from the queer feeling, laughing at the moment of spontaneity.  “What the hell, you freak?”  He kept laughing.   
             “Am I freaking freak?” Arin blew another raspberry into Dan’s side.   
             “You’re a fuckin’ loser.” Dan pushed him away, restraining his wrists above his head with a single tentacle.  Pressing another tentacle against Arin’s side, he simulated a mouth, blowing a raspberry against him in kind.   
             “Okay tentacle monster from the black lagoon!” Arin raucously laughed, trying to twist out of Dan’s grip, only half realizing what it was he just said.  “Uh… I…”   
             “It’s okay, man.”  Dan waited for something to happen… For Arin to forget what he had just said…  Or…  To ask who he was again.  “Are you okay?”   
             “Yeah, I’m good, I mean, you just got my hands above my head, so my arms are starting to go numb, but, you know…”  Arin wasn’t forgetting…   
             “What’s my name?”   
             “Dan, is something wrong with  _ you _ ?”   
             “Just answer the question.”   
             “Um, your name is Dan Avidan?  You’re, like, my best friend in the world?  And I kinda want a kiss?”   
             “Fascinating…”  Dan enunciated carefully, as if any one wrong syllable could ruin the moment.  “You want a kiss?”   
             “Yes, please?” Arin confirmed, swallowing as the “please” had just slipped past his lips unbidden.  It felt…  Right.   
             Keeping Arin restrained, Dan took a “step” towards him, pushing Arin back against a wall, “Is this okay?”   
             “Yeah?”  Arin let out a heavy breath, unsure why this was such an intoxicating experience.  Oh, who was he kidding?  He was in the dark, helpless without Dan…  Dan had complete control over the situation, what Dan chose to do was what he had to do.  Past all the racing thoughts, he knew Dan would never leave him alone in this place, nor would Dan ever give stipulations to Arin’s leaving this oppressive place.  Arin would just have to tell him he wanted to leave, and they would.  The situation was, therefore, exciting rather than terrifying.   
             From his direct contact with Arin’s skin, Dan felt Arin’s arousal leak through.  He knew not to act on it, not unless Arin said otherwise, for now, he would just kiss him, as Arin asked.  Lifting a third tentacle, the one around Arin’s wrists and the one encircling his abdomen tightened.  The third one pressed against the human’s lips, a fine moisture coating the end of it.   
             “Mmmn,” Arin pressed his lips harder against it as Dan fanned the digit out to accompany the size of Arin’s lips.  It wasn’t until Arin opened his mouth, tongue searching for something that Dan ventured his limb inside.  “Fuck,” Arin moaned past the tentacle, twining his tongue around it.  At first, Dan assumed Arin had mistaken it for a tongue as he kept his mouth open and seemed to search for lips.  He was swiftly disproven, however, as Arin closed his lips around the appendage and began to suck, still teasing it with his tongue.   
             Dan let out a quiet moan, Arin’s pleasure beginning to spill into him.  Arin was hard, his skin was alive, craving touch…  His body wanted  _ so much _ more.  That was just the problem though, choking back another moan, Dan asked, “Is this okay?”   
             Arin tipped his head back, tearing his drooling mouth away from the slick tentacle in his mouth, resting his head against the plexiglass-like wall, “Yes.” He panted, closing his eyes, too aroused to consider that Dan’s voice was not coming from just in front of him, but a little further off.  It didn’t bother him for now, this was Dan, this was  _ fun. _ _  
_ _  
_ _              “Danny!  Ah!” Arin moaned loudly, eyes squeezed shut, legs locked tightly around the unsweating back of his boyfriend.  “R-Right there!  Aaaah! Fuck!  Yes!”  His back arched and Dan lifted his hips into a better position, a slimy, warm appendage filled his mouth as a wet,  _ **_hot_ ** _ appendage drove deeper into him.  He moaned and gasped behind the part of Dan that played in his mouth, grateful that Dan had left enough space for him to breathe beyond it.  Arin tried to move his wrists, but they were pinned to the mattress, one arm per wrist. _ _  
_ _              “Aer, I’m going t-to… Ah!”  Dan’s voice joined the moans and blissful gasps as he pressed both tendrils inside Arin all the deeper, forcing Arin to breathe out his nose and swallow the bittersweet secretions.  Arin came between them, his final groan muffled significantly by Dan’s  _ **_tentacle_ ** _ between his lips. _ _  
_ _  
_ __ “Why do you have tentacles?” Arin gasped, his whole body sweating, his dick painfully erect in his pants.  He could still  _ feel _ everything he had remembered in the dream from the slickness of the large, long object inside of him to the taste of…  Whatever that sticky fluid was in his mouth.  Still caught up in the moment even in the waking world, he pushed his butt back against the wall as if there would be something behind him to push inside.  A frustrated noise broke from him when he found nothing.   
             Dan was hesitant to answer at first, but Arin reiterated his question, exceedingly more frustrated than before, “I can’t tell you, you wouldn’t remember if I did.”   
             “What?”  Arin’s lust-addled mind couldn’t cut through all the bullshit to comprehend Dan’s meaning.   
             “It’s another side effect I’m just finding out about.  Of the memory wipe.  There are certain things we can’t talk about right now.”   
             “Dan, are you an--”   
             “No, no!”   
             Arin went silent, Dan sighing, “Fuck, this boner is starting to hurt.”   
             “Do you want me to let you go?” Dan asked, more than a little let down by present events.   
            “Um…  Unless you want to help me take care of this?”   
            “Are you comfortable with that?”   
             Arin thought for a few seconds, emboldened by the stark darkness, “Yes?”   
             “That didn’t sound so sure, man.”   
             “Um, could we take a raincheck on it, then?”   
             “Certainly.” Dan unwrapped all of his tentacles from Arin, forming a hand with five fingers at the end of one of them.  With the hand-acle, he took Arin’s hand, lacing their fingers together.  “I can take you to the cabin I think is best for you and you can work it out?”   
             “Oh, that would be cool.” Arin admitted, surprised by Dan’s hand, but not objecting to it.  “Why did we come down here again?”   
             “I actually just wanted some alone time with you.” Dan chuckled, ushering them towards a vertical tube.   
             “In the dark?” Arin laughed, feeling his erection bob as he walked.  “My face that ugly?”   
             “No, idiot,” Dan reached a tentacle up to stroke a piece of Arin’s hair back behind his ear.  “I can still see your face, remember?”   
             “So.. You don’t want me to see you, then?”   
             “I don’t exactly look like myself right now, if you haven’t noticed.”  Dan pressed his tentacle against Arin’s face until it about engulfed half of his head.   
             “Yeah, I gathered…”  Arin tried to lean away from the sudden thick, rubber material threatening his autonomy.  “Why won’t you let me see it?  Are you scary or something?”   
              “No…  You just don’t think I’m me when you see me.”   
             “I don’t?  How would I not know you?  Unless you’re--”   
             “Sshhhhhhh!” Dan quickly drowned out before Arin could say it, “Don’t say that word!  Don’t even think it!  Just don’t think anything!  We can’t even talk about it!”   
             “Uhm…  Okay, uh… So… There’s something that needs to only happen when I can’t see you.  We can only do that down here?”   
             “It’s integral to your memories that you don’t see me during times like this.  Are we clear?”   
             “Yes… I don’t know why, but I think we are.”  Arin nodded quickly, stumbling a little when Dan pushed him around a corner.   
             “Going up.” Dan announced, wrapping a few tentacles around Arin’s body as he instructed Arin to reach out into the open shaft and grab onto the rungs.   
             “You’re like, super strong, right?  Can’t you just carry me?” Arin asked, hands touching the nearest rungs to him.   
             “Um…  Do you…  _ Remember _ when I did that?” Dan questioned.   
             “No, but…  You can make like, nets with your arms and stuff.”  Arin patted the two tentacles protectively grasped onto him, “And you picked me up in LA and ran with me for two blocks.”   
             “Perceptive.” Dan commended, “I will carry you, but…  You can’t struggle, or freak out.  I have a very strong grip and if you turn the wrong way it might hurt you.”   
             “Okay, cool.” Arin nodded, relaxing as he felt Danny squeeze past him and into the shaft.  He jumped slightly as he felt not three, but  _ eight _ arms grab ahold of him.  He tensed and almost had the urge to lean away.  This wasn’t  _ normal _ .   
             “Step out into the shaft, I won’t let you fall.  You have to relax.”   
             “Just  _ walk _ into it?”  Though Arin felt the secure arms around him, it was still asking a bit much of the human to just step into a  _ void _ .  “I dunno about that dude.”   
             “Then get onto the rungs and just let go.”  Dan suggested, alreading having installed three more of his tentacles on the rungs of the hexagonal shaft.  If there were lights, he would look a lot like a squished piece of chewing gum, to be honest.   
              “Okay…”  Arin located the metal bars closest to him again and climbed out into the shaft of an indeterminate depth in the darkness.  His arms and legs jittery, he felt Dan’s arms become taut, pulling upwards on him.   
             “Now let go.”   
             Dubious at first, Arin let go of the ladder rungs, yelping as he felt Dan quickly pull him up against his body as if he were nothing heavier than a small cat.  He knew better than to fight against Dan’s arms, but it was a…   _ Unique _ feeling behind completely restrained and suspended by all the arms around his various limbs.  Oh, wait, that was right!  He had a boner!  It was now reminding him it was there!  It wavered, however, when Arin felt one of the arms let go to reposition itself elsewhere.  He felt no less stable up in the air as they ascended through the decks, but it was still unnerving.  Once he found his body perfectly nestled against the soma of Dan’s branching body, however, it was finally possible to relax.   
  
_  “Can you carry me?” _ _  
_ _               “Of course!” _ _  
_ _              The human blinked as he felt like he was being carried in the world’s most comfortable hammock out of the room and into the hallway. ... _ _  
_ _               “I keep forgetting how strong you are.” _ _  
_ _              “Comes with not having to worry about breaking bones.  Humans are very strong too, but your muscles are so strong they can snap your bones into little pieces.  I suppose you have pain responses to keep you from reaching those points though.” _ _  
_ _              “Yeah.  I guess that’s why insects are so strong for their size.” _ _  
_ _              “Insects?” _ _  
_ _              “Bugs, they don’t have internal skeletons so can lift things hundreds of times their own weight.” _ _  
_ _              “Ah, like the Kriranrk have carapaces.” _ _  
_ _              “Ross is a bug…”  Arin grumped, still not over it. _ _  
_ _  
_              “Danny…?”  Arin cleared his throat when he came out of the memory.   
             “Yes?”  Dan hadn’t waited for Arin to finish his memory before exiting the shaft, he just continued carrying him towards what he designated as his cabin.   
             “Ross is an alien, right?”   
             It really stung that Arin was able to say that about Ross without difficulty, but fuck, it just threw  _ everything _ out of whack when he made such assertions about him!   _ Goddammit _ Ross!  It wasn’t even his fault, but Danny needed  _ something _ to curse!   
             “Yes, Arin, he is.  He’s Earthborn--”   
             “Kriranrk.  I know.”   
             “Does that complicate things for you?  You didn’t like that news initially.”   
             “No, it doesn’t bother me.  I figure…  We’ve been friends for so long…  You hid your knowledge of aliens too, so, I can only  _ imagine _ , for him,  _ as _ an alien, it would be dangerous for him to tell people that.”  Arin nodded and it made Dan all the angrier that he was having  _ no trouble _ discussing this.  “He’s one of my oldest friends, I get it.”   
              “I’m going to put you down now.  I did some furniture moving while you were asleep earlier.”  Dan waited for Arin to extend his legs from his arms before setting him down and shifting his body into a more human configuration.   
             “I really appreciate this, man.”  Not that Arin would have  _ too much _ time to acclimate to this room, they were almost to their destination.  He would at least be able to spend the night down here.  “What part of the ship is this in?”   
             “You’re two decks below the cockpit, one deck above my room and towards Brian’s stern.”   
             “I’m in a whale’s butt.” Arin chuckled to himself.   
             “Yes…  Yes, Arin, you’re in Brian’s butt.  Haha.”  Dan wasn’t going to bother pointing out for the millionth time since meeting Arin that Brian didn’t even  _ have _ an expulsive part of his alimentary tract.   
             “So…  Am I just going to have to wait for you to--”  Arin jumped and covered his eyes when there was suddenly a bright, spherical light right at eye level.  “Yeeaagh!  Fucking warn a guy first!”  Arin shouted, his eyes screwed shut against the painful light.   
             “Oh, sorry about that.”  At least that was one thing Dan never experienced, his body was perfectly adapted to all varying levels of light.  His body  _ was _ a natural light source and all.  He waited patiently as Arin slowly adjusted to the brighter atmosphere, blinking his eyes open eventually and lowering his hands.   
             “Geez,” Arin remarked one last time, still aggravated before he reached out for the light, “what is this thing?”   
             “It has a complicated name on Asvarlik, something like ‘the object that you grab when you need the dark hallway illuminated around you,’ but we can call it a lamp I think.”  Dan laughed, the Asvarlich people and his own got along remarkably well just by their languages’ mutual love of precision.  However, that also made learning the language  _ very _ difficult, even for a zilbyrgh, one wrong intonation and an entire noun was fucked up and meant something completely different.   
             Arin took it in his hand, it wasn’t warm, which went against most every light-emitting thing on Earth that was this bright, “How do I turn it on and off?”   
             “You turn this.”  Dan gently placed his fingers onto the mushroom-like protuberance along the top, and twisted it until there was a click, plunging the room back into total darkness.  He then twisted it back until there was another click, and light illuminated the whole room once more.   
             “Cool!”  Arin even noticed that there was a small cord tied around it that he could probably sling over his shoulder if he had to use his hands for, say…  Shaft-climbing.   
             “If you’re going to be in here by yourself, you’re going to need to be able to get out to use the bathroom without yelling for me.”  Dan laughed, patting his shoulder, but, soon after, he motioned around the room, “I moved the couch up while you were sleeping.”   
             Arin looked away from Dan’s stunning jaw in the light to what looked to be a heavy,  _ very large _ chaise lounge positioned in one corner.  The quilt he had used the prior night was folded up on one end of it, but was almost indiscernible from the rest of the fabric of the couch.   
             “Dude, where do you get this shit?”   
             “Miriodius…  Actually…  They’re a very…  Expressive people.”  That was putting it lightly.   
             “What do they look like?”   
             “Imagine a sea anemone.”  Dan began, “Now, imagine that that anemone is purple…  Neon purple…  Then, imagine that it’s covered in long,  _ bright orange _ fur.  Like Mochi or Mimi’s fur.  That color can vary from white, to black, to green, or, in rare cases, a color that your eyes cannot comprehend…”   
             “What?”   
             “There are more colors in existence than human eyes can pick up, and that’s what color some Miriodian fur colors are.  The most common is around a tangerine orange.” Dan nodded, an expression of complete seriousness on his face, “I’m not even making this up.”   
             “Wow…  And they just…  Wiggle around in one spot all day?”   
             Oh, Dan did  _ wish _ , sometimes, “Imagine that furry, cuddly anemone has seven legs underneath the splay of fuzzy arms.  These legs all have suction cups on them.  Now, also imagine…  Screaming….  Lots of  _ screaming _ and spraying body fluids  _ everywhere _ …  And that’s a Miriodian.”   
             “Uh…”  Arin looked to the couch and the quilt, “What…   _ Color _ are these fluids?”   
             Dan remained silent, just craning his neck to look at the two objects in question.   
             “Are you serious right now…?”   
             “They’ve been through Brian’s sterilizing process at least a dozen times each, at this point, the only thing that’s really left is just the pigments that got caught in the fabric.  There’s nothing to worry about.”   
             “That’s still fuckin’ nasty….”   
             “Would you like me to give you a traditional Miriodian welcome serenade?”   
             “Uh…” Arin smiled and started to laugh, “You speak screaming?”   
             “I am fluent in as many as forty-two different languages apart from English.  Keep in mind, however, seven of those are standardized languages understood on  _ many _ planets in a sector or cluster, and one of them is a dead language…  It’s just fun to know it.”   
             “Wha…  What?  Really?  Dude, you can’t even remember French or Hebrew…”   
             “I haven’t needed to really dedicate time to learning them…  My life and work have not depended upon it.”  Dan excused quickly, “Now, do you want me to serenade you, or not?” He chuckled, getting back to the original point.   
             “I think I’m good.”   
             “Suit yourself.” Dan shook his head with a smile.  “Would you like me to leave you to your monkey spanking?”   
             “Who even  _ says  _ that?” Arin bent over in his laughter.   
             “Obviously me.” Dan mirthfully chuckled along with him, turning to leave the room, but he stopped himself after a few steps, “Oh, one other thing.  I have an implant to put in you later.”   
             “Is that implant your D?” Arin uncomfortably chuckled, hoping that Dan had been using a euphemism there.   
             “No, it’s an actual implant, it will be going here.”  Dan poked Arin’s right bicep.   
             “What?!  Why?!”  Arin shied his body away, as if the finger was going to be the thing doing the implanting into his muscle.   
             “It’s important for when you get off the ship and it needs to sit for at least ten hours to function the best.  Sooner than later is preferable, Aer.”   
             “Okay…  I guess.” Arin grudgingly consented.   
             “Cool, I’ll get upstairs all setup for later.” Dan gave him a parting smile in the starkly-shadowed light and exited the room.  Only afterwards did it occur to Arin that there was only a portal to and from the room.  Did this alien culture not believe in doors?  Or privacy?  He supposed that just meant that he’d have to be quiet…  And not talk during his jerk-off sesh…   
  
             Dan hummed as he picked over his sterile tray of instruments.  Arin had met one of the objects before, very briefly.  Dan  _ supposed _ he could do a double-implant this time, inserting a location tracker as well as the more necessary one…  However, he already had a basically infallible tracker when it came to Arin right inside his body.  Perhaps, if this was Suzy he was talking about, Dan would’ve done that.  He snorted under his breath, Arin was really into what he was doing down there.  When the inside of a ship had no carpet, soft walls, or pillows laying about, sound really traveled.   
             After a good twenty minutes, Arin went quiet.  Dan assumed he’d fallen asleep.  Which wouldn’t have surprised him as much if he hadn’t known that Arin had just slept for twelve hours beforehand…  Nevertheless, Dan knew that it would only make transporting Arin up the decks and to the table easier.  He hadn’t ever needed to move Arin up onto the table for a procedure while he was already on board before.  Once making everything sterile, Dan left the cockpit and dropped two stories down.  He caught the rung right before the exit of the shaft and swung himself out into the hall of the deck.  Turning a corner, he noticed Arin’s light was out…  How was he already sleeping again?  Sleeping was humanity’s greatest talent, he concluded.   
***   
              “Mmm…”  Arin tried to move, the harsh lights on the other side of his eyelids disturbing him.  After not much effort at all, he discovered that he was strapped down.  Half awake and half asleep, and thus gifted with subconscious knowing, he thought  _ Dan, I swear to fuck _ .   
             “Arin, it never ceases to amaze me both how quickly you fall asleep and how quickly this stasis field wears off on you.”  Dan spoke, Arin opening his eyes to retort, but squeaking instead.   
             “You again?!”   
             Dan paused over Arin’s arm, ready to swab his bicep clean for the insertion, “Yes, Arin, me again.” Dan wiggled some of his cranial palpators, his body turning a muddy purple.   
             “What are you doing to me?” Arin tried to pull away from him, “Stop touching me!” He shrieked, Dan standing up straight from him after swabbing the area.   
             “Arin, I told you earlier.  I have to give you this.”  Dan held up a very tiny, metal object on the end of his tentacle.  If Arin was really focused on it, he’d probably say it looked like a mini-microchip.   
             “You’re not putting  _ anything _ in me until you tell me what it does!”  Well, at least Arin implied he was going to cooperate.   
             “Chill out, bro.”  Dan soothed, dropping the tiny item back into its holding dish, “It’s to keep you from getting sick on Lodora.  Or wherever else they want us to go during our stay.”   
             “How the fuck is--”   
             “If you’ll let me finish, I’ll tell you.” Dan paused, happy to see Arin remaining silent for a second, “When have I ever left you hanging on this sort of thing?”   
             “Don’t pretend you fucking know me.” Arin hissed, “Where’s Dan?”   
             “I’m right here.” Dan tried to impress, figuring that things might be a little different after earlier.   
             “Not you,  _ my _ Dan.”   
             “I’m not going to go through this with you again, you won’t remember anyway.”  Dan loaded the chip into the surgical tool, making Arin visibly cringe in fear, “The chip augments the immune system and destroys external and internal foreign bodies.  Since most beings in the universe require a certain amount of organisms not produced inside the body to remain healthy, it adapts to the being that it is in.  Foreign germs that are not already present externally or internally will not be able to exist on your body after its been allowed to sync with you.”   
             “Uh, that’s cool, but…”   
             “I’ll remove it when we go back to Earth.” Dan raised his instrument, Arin flinching back.   
  
_       “Why do you have me up here…  _ **_Not_ ** _ asleep for once?” _ _  
_ _              “Oh…  Actually, you woke up early.  I still need to remove the implant.” _ _  
_ _              “Implant?!  What does it do?!” _ _  
_ _              … _ _  
_ _              “...I need it back.” _ _  
_ _              Arin flinched as the thing came forward and picked up an instrument that looked very much like a hypodermic needle, “H-How…?” _ _  
_ _              “Do not worry, this will only hurt for a moment, and if you remain still, it will go much faster.”  The thing bent over Arin’s arm--which, now that Arin really paid attention--was strapped down in a very specific position with his wrist facing upwards. … … “If you will relax, please.” _ _  
_ _  
_ _              Arin’s back arched, he pulled almost violently on the bonds that kept his legs thrust apart and his wrists down.  An unbidden moan tore from his throat as a hot, wet tentacle took the place of a stainless steel speculum in his ass.  The speculum hadn’t done much for stretching him, just his opening.  He choked as pleasure filled his body, his dick twitching against his belly. _ _  
_ _              … … His body was slick from the green and blue tentacles that dragged over his bare skin.  Two of the appendages, currently, were engaged in sucking on his nipples, another carefully stroked over his erect, lower protrusion and fourth was sliding its way inside of him. … _ _  
_ _              “The human responds well to physical stimulus.  I have become aware of an extra fluid that I have not previously been able to collect for examination.  And I suspect I shall require a great amount of it.” _ _  
_ _              “What are you--Ah!--going to do?” Arin rasped between moans and gasps…  ...pleading expression, but the attempt at garnering sympathy was cut short as a second tentacle pushed inside of him.  His back arched off the table again, squeezing his eyes shut as he moaned and tried to press his face into his arm.  The alien never answered his question and picked up something similar to a petri dish, holding it to the head of his leaking dick. _ _  
_ _              … _ _  
_ _              “Why me?” Arin pitifully questioned, trying to fight against the ropes around his limbs, but, just as before, finding it made no difference. _ _  
_ _              “Just because.” _   
  
             “Stop!  Stop!”   
             Dan paused before the medical instrument touched Arin’s arm, “Arin, it won’t hurt for more than a second, I promise.  I can put you back to sleep if you want.”   
             “Sleep while you fucking stick things inside of me?!  Sick fuck!”   
             “Arin…  Stop, it’s okay.”  This was starting to hurt.   
             “I fucking remember you!  You abducted me and experimented on me!  You…”  Tears were at Arin’s eyes, “You tied me down and  _ fucked _ me!  Like I was just a fucking object!”   
             Dan put the instrument down, raising a tentacle up to his eyes as his body turned a darker purple, “Arin…  That’s-that’s not what happened!”   
             “You put a chip in my arm without telling me before!  And you fucking…”  Arin would’ve scrunched in on himself if the bonds on the table allowed for it.  He was actually crying…  “If it’s not what I think it is, the what  _ fucking _ was it?!”   
             How was he supposed to explain those two memories?  The implant was when they met and the table-sex was their last day together.  Would going through the trouble to explain even sink in on Arin?  Or would he just forget all of it again?   
             “Those two things were months apart.” Dan had to at least try.   
             “Oh, so you just kept doing it?!”   
             “No, darling.” Dan reached to brush his cheek to wipe away a tear, but quickly retracted his arm as Arin snapped his teeth at it.  “Things were so different by…  The time of the other one.  That was an act of love…”   
             “You call rape love?” Arin spit.   
             “No!  You…  You  _ asked me _ !  You-you-you  _ begged _ me to do it!”   
             “Whatever fucking makes you feel better.”  Arin looked away from him stubbornly.   
             “Arin, please, no.” Dan pleaded, “I’d never do that!  To anyone!  We were…  I guess you would call it ‘playing.’”   
              “Why in hell would I  _ play _ with you?” The human sneered at him, “Look at you, fucking jellyfish freak.”   
             Dan was silent.   
             “I loved…  Dan, my Dan, not you.  You couldn’t pay me to fuck you.”   
             Dan remained silent, picking back up the surgical instrument.  He ignored the touch of Brian’s mind against his, trying to be comforting.  Arin didn’t know what he was saying…  He didn’t understand.  That didn’t make the hurt any duller.  Dan pressed the threatening object against Arin’s restrained arm, ignoring his shouts to stop.  He waited a few seconds and depressed the trigger, Arin yelping at the sharp, momentary pain.   
             “Let me up!” Arin demanded, Dan ignoring him.  Dan focused, instead, on re-sterilizing and storing the instruments in the tray.  There was a process…  They needed to be cleaned and the tray needed to be stored away where they belonged.  “Hey!  Fucker!”   
             “Shut  _ up _ , Arin!” Dan shouted, slamming shut a drawer, “You don’t get to fucking say those things and just assume I’ll be okay!” Again, there was a lot Arin didn’t know all the same.  It still hurt to hear Arin accuse him of  _ raping _ him.  “We were in  _ love _ when we did that!”   
             “Oh?  Really?  What proof do you have?!”   
             Dan fumbled, enraged that he had to provide  _ proof _ of emotions.  He had  _ tons _ of it!  He had memories he had--his body burned white and bright with rage, almost blinding to Arin’s eyes.  Never had he felt so angry in his life.  He always walked the middle path, was the voice of reason or compassion, the mild, smiling peacekeeper!   
             “Lyrda,” Dan heard behind him.   
             “ _ What _ do you  _ want _ ?!” Dan bellowed, his body swollen up, flashing all different kinds of busy, warning patterns at the one reaching out to touch him.   
             Brian pushed himself against the trembling, puffed body of his friend, grasping as far around him as he could in a tight hug.  Dan tried to shove him away but was thwarted by Brian’s speed and iron grip.  Arin, meanwhile, watched on in utter fascination and befuddlement.   
             “Brian?”   
             “Shut up, Arin!” Brian barked, still trying to calm his best friend, “It’s okay Dan, he doesn’t know.  He doesn’t mean it…”   
             All at once, the rigidity and light faded from Dan’s body.  The balloon-like alien flopped uselessly over Brian in a giant, black blanket.  Brian, underneath the deflated body, gathered Dan up in a series of folds, looking very much like a heavy velour stage curtain.  He carried him over towards the console, stomping his foot down for a chair to sprout from the tile.   
             “Uh…  Can you…  Let me up?” Arin tried to cut in, but somehow felt his words earlier had gone too far.  He felt guilty…  That was ridiculous though!  He had been raped!  That  _ thing _ had raped him!  Or…  Maybe…  There was some truth in the… Ehm, Lyrda’s words.  Unless Brian also had a skewed vision of consent…  Arin knew that wasn’t right though.  Had the alien been telling the truth?  He needed to talk to Dan about this.  This was too much.  “I’m…  Sorry?”   
             “Dude, just shut up.” Brian muttered, stroking Dan’s black, silent body as it curled tighter around him.   
***   
             Arin sat silently as he watched Lyrdaanaavydaa shuffle around Dan’s room.  There was something not right about this.  At the same time, it still seemed correct.  It made arin’s skin crawl and his head hurt.  It boggled him how something could be equally true as it was false and it got into that weird Schrodinger’s Cat realm.  He hadn’t seen Dan since the day prior and Brian was preparing to dock at a station in orbit above Lodora.  Arin picked at the waistband of his pajama pants and looked up to Lyrdaanaavydaa as he…  They?  As the genderless alien tied Dan’s envoy garments around their body.  The white and black cloths crossed over the alien’s “chest” as draped over its two primary arms almost like sleeves.  Where the fabrics overlaid one another, a shifting expanse of grey rippled with each bodily movement, the extreme ends of the fabrics, however, draped from them towards the ground.  A final, bright green “sash” had been added to tie it all together securely.  Lyrdaanaavydaa paid especial time and care to making the knot on their back.  There was, ostensibly, a special, proper way that it was supposed to appear.   
             “Represents unity.” Lyrdaanaavydaa remarked shortly and quietly, even though Arin hadn’t asked.  They hadn’t been forthcoming in speech after what happened up in the cockpit, but, short explanations were in supply up to a point.   
             “Cool.”  Arin acknowledged, “Where’s Dan?”   
             Dan had given up by now, “I’m going in his place.”   
             “Is he sick?” Arin asked with great concern.   
             “No, I’m just going for him.”   
             “If you hurt him…”   
             Dan would’ve rolled his eyes if he actually had sockets, “Trust me, Arin, he’s fine.”   
             “It just seems fishy that you appear right after he disappears…”   
             “ _ No _ ,”  Dan turned to regard him, “you don’t  _ say _ .”   
             “You’re a breath of fresh air.”   
             “Geez, god, I had no  _ idea _ that being called a rapist was a  _ compliment _ .”  Dan bitterly retorted, picking up one of the strings of glass.   
             “I have no reason to believe you one way or another, man.  I’m sorry I said that, but I don’t  _ know _ you.”   
             “Jumping to conclusions is dangerous.” Dan remarked, aligning one of his cranial palpators with the leading “bead” on the string he was holding.  Slowly, he inserted the bubble-like object into the tendril, making an irritated noise of discomfort as it threaded through and down into his body.   
             Arin watched with considerable interest as Lyrdaanaavydaa pushed several of the strings into their head tentacles.  Their body turned slowly from a neutral blue-grey to a matte blackness, the glass balls twining around each other in the soma of their body.  Prismatic light whipped up and down each strand of bubbles, reminding Arin of animations of how neurons in the brain conducted their impulses.  When Lyrdaanaavydaa had completed the procedure, it looked like a series of glowing, beaded braids hung down the alien’s back to about where their “waist” was.  They then reached for what looked like a blue ribbon on the table that held the box of Arin’s things, very carefully twisting all their palpators together and wrapping them into a column on their head.  When they were finished, the “skin” of their body was obscured by the blue fabric, leaving only the numerous, glowing, tinkling bubbles of “glass” in view…  Each ball appeared to contain a star, sending pulses of light and color into the creature’s inky body.   
             “It’s time to go greet the welcome party.  Come on Arin.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa drifted past him like the etheric, composed being they were.   
             Arin couldn’t help but stare as if this alien was the living embodiment of the universe.  A true child of the stars.


	6. Symphony 2: Movement I:  'Cause We Are All Made of Stars

             “Nervous?” Lyrdaanaavydaa asked as the alien and Arin rematerialized inside the hot, wet cavern of Brian’s mouth.  It was pitch inside Brian’s still closed orifice, evidently, the whale was not yet ready to let them leave.  Lyrdaanaavydaa reached out to touch the human’s shoulder, “I’m here with you, Aer.”  The only light in the black void was the shimmering and motion-filled helix inside the zilbyrgh--as well as its many branching terminations outside of the body.  
             Arin was momentarily struck by the fact that, in the darkness, the alien sounded a whole lot more like Dan than he had previously thought.  The touch to his body was almost welcome until he reminded himself that he, as far as he knew, _wasn’t_ with Dan.  Arin couldn’t see Lyrdaanaavydaa’s bodily form in its wholeness as things were.  The lights floated in the dark space of their body, illuminating it from the inside out without delineating where the alien ended and the darkness of nothing began.  While it was awe-worthy in its beauty, its very close resemblance to some kind of upside-down deep-sea jellyfish--a mindless predator--put Arin on edge.  
             “Don’t touch me.” Arin leaned away from the tentacle he could only barely see, “I’d rather be with Dan right now…  Yes, I’m nervous.”  
             The tentacle retracted and Arin swore he could hear Dan’s usual, “fine then” sigh before the being spoke, “Okay.  Whether you like me or not, we’re going to be doing this together.  I’m not going to leave you anywhere by yourself.  No one here will have any hope of understanding you, nor you understanding them.”  
             “Well, that’s just great, thousands upon thousands of life forms and you’re the only one I can talk to.” Arin rolled his eyes, such a fate.  
             “I think if you gave me more of a chance you’d like me…”   _Maybe even love me…_  Dan thought to himself, hearing the popping and grinding of Brian beginning to extend his jawset out of his mouth.  He had to remind himself that once Brian’s mouth opened and while they were here, he wasn’t _really_ “Dan,” the space he occupied in human society was not the space he occupied here.  He was…   _They_ were  Lyrdaanaavydaa of Gleaming Shallows a researcher and peaceful envoy; they supposed that worked just as well, Arin didn’t see them as Danny Avidan at present anyway.  
             “You were on the Solgirian ship…”  Arin murmured, his legs becoming shaky at the forward motion of the space they were in.  “Did you beam aboard at some point during travel?”  
             “Yes, that was me, but I have been onboard the entire time.  Particle transference is not possible at high speeds, not unless you want to die.”  
             “But… When?”  
             “You know the answer, somewhere.  You just can’t find it right now.”  Dan patted Arin’s back very lightly, assuming the human would take issue with the contact, but it was so natural to him at this point.  
             “When is Brian spitting us out?”  Arin asked just as the first cracks of light filtered through Brian’s teeth crystals.  
             “I’d say…  Right now.  Stay close to me.”  Dan advanced for the widening opening between Brian’s teeth.  
             Arin was none-too-fond of the alien thus far, but he did have to admit inside, an evil he was used to was better than an evil he didn’t know.  He quickened his pace to keep up with Lyrdaanaavydaa as the mouth opened, revealing a wide, bright unloading bay.  Instantly, he was struck with the sheer biodiversity at hand.  His lips parted and his eyes widened as if in parody of his gaping mouth.  The bay was positively _abuzz_ with aliens-- _people--_ coming and going, having their own conversations in native tongues and standardized ones.  There was so much color, _so_ much to see and hear and experience as aliens of all shapes and sizes went about their business on this bustling, interstellar hub.  
             “Whoa…”  Arin was flabbergasted by it all, eyes roaming to every possible corner visible from the space on which he stood.  At last, however, his eyes fell on Lyrdaanaavydaa, their head held high, their body composed and rigid in their stately clothes and glowing ornamentations.  In a semi-circle around the exit to the ship, stood the members of the Solgirian fleet Arin had become acquainted with only a week ago.  Wow…  He’d been off Earth for a whole week…  
             Remembering that he was supposed to be keeping close to the starchild envoy, Arin tripped after Lyrdaanaavydaa, squeezing himself between two of the sharp crystals that lined the border of Brian’s jaw.  Once out of Brian’s mouth, Arin had to pause and look back at the humongous lifeform that was one of his best friends.  He was in a _band_ with this very same creature.  He watched Brian close his blue and black jawset to retract it back into the confines of his black, metallic snout.  The giant star-whale seemed content to float above the ship dock, showing off the true space they occupied--Brian wasn’t the largest ship in the room, nor the fanciest, but he was definitely in the larger end of things.  All twelve pairs of flippers fanned out from Brian’s sides after being previously stuck in what appeared to be metal slots, and his sets of wings fanned out to likewise stretch.  Arin continued to gape clear until a pair of yellow orbits on the underside of Brian twisted in his direction.  He thought them odd and that they were identical to the yellow things that had popped out of the water on Earth.  
             “ _Yes, I know I’m beautiful, Arin.  You need to attend Lyrdaanaavydaa.  I cannot traverse past this room at present._ ”  Brian cleared Arin’s throat and left him as Arin nodded, “See you later, Bri.”  He turned and headed about halfway down the ramp to his acquaintance's side; they were already speaking with whom Arin assumed to be Captain Graah by its superior size to the rest of the Solgirians behind it.  The two were in conversation about something, Arin noticing the way Lyrdaanaavydaa stood up as straight as possible--only about a head taller than the other alien--and Graah stared straight ahead.  He didn’t want to interrupt, but he desperately wanted to know what was going to happen.  The other Solgirians held their guns in the paws.  
             “Uh, Lyrda?”  
             The envoy went stiff, “ _Excuse me for a moment, Captain Graah.  I must attend my mate._ ”  Then, Dan addressed Arin, “Please do not refer to me like that in formal company.”  
             “Geez, fine.” Arin huffed, “I didn’t know it was a big deal or whatever.”  
             “If my name is too long for you to be bothered, you can either call me ‘Dan’ or ’Aavydaa’.  That name is special.”  
             “Oh, sorry… I didn’t know.”  Though, perhaps Arin should have figured something when Brian called him that during that…   _Situation_ in the cockpit yesterday.  At the same time, Arin felt slightly guilty from the way Lyrdaanaavydaa had phrased the instructions, if he couldn’t be “bothered” to say his full name.  “I’m sorry, Lyrdaanaavydaa.”  It was just so long, not many human names were more than five syllables long without a middle name being attached.  It felt too formal.  It was like always referring to Danny as “Leigh Daniel Avidan” at all times.  Which…  Arin pulled his eyebrows together.  
             “What was it you needed, Arin?  I have to get back to Captain Graah.”  
             “I just wanted to know what’s happening…” Arin innocently informed, eyes flicking to Graah who remained silent and did not look at them as they spoke to each other.  
             “Can I touch you?”  
             “Why?”  
             “I am a touch-telepath, it’s too complicated for me to explain right now how it works, but I can speak verbally as well as mentally simultaneously.  I can also do this without touching you, but the translations will already be…  Difficult to understand as I will be working to both hold the conversation with Captain Graah as well as translate it using your vocabulary.  Some words might not translate at all if there isn’t an equivalent for it in your knowledge.  Touching you will allow this process to be simpler and I can do it faster.  This is a much more efficient way for you to get information than waiting for me to finish my conversation and interpret for you.”  
             “That’s cool…”  Arin marveled at the multitasking ability of the alien, “And, I guess I don’t have a choice.” He held out his hand, watching as Lyrdaanaavydaa extended a small tentacle out from their body from underneath the envoy garments.  He let it wrap around his palm and nodded.  
             “Graah, forgive the interruption _._ ”  Lyrdaanaavydaa began again, Arin jumping at the voice in his head.  It was so similar to hearing a verbal voice that Arin wondered if everyone else could hear it.  The dissonance he was experiencing wasn’t new, however.  This was…  A very familiar feeling.  Almost comforting?  Arin could not say and did not have the time to examine the sensation thoroughly as the conversation between the two aliens restarted in full swing.  “Forgiven, Doctor _._ ” Arin heard Graah’s words translated with Lyrdaanaavydaa’s voice.  “As saying earlier, you will expected to lodge on ship.  You three are not criminals, there is trust.” Graah explained, Lyrdaanaavydaa missing a few of the words in haste.  
             “When will we be expected to make an appearance for the court?” Lyrdaanaavydaa asked.  
             “When court sessions.  On the rise of _Elatm_ over satellite.” Arin tried to glean Graah’s exact meaning from the somewhat broken sentence, but the presence of an untranslatable word frustrated him.  
             “What is the procedure for today?” Lyrdaanaavydaa probed further.  “Meeting ambassadors?  Head speaker, the _tatamean_?”  
             “Report to head authority is me.  Confirm and convene the _tatamean_.  Terran is sterilized?”  
             Arin hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it did…  
             “Yes, the immuno-augmentor you gave me has been implanted.  No unsafe bodies can transfer.”  
             It only then occurred to Arin that the chip that had been installed in his bicep was as much for the protection of the other aliens as it was for his own.  He hadn’t considered the possibility that something as simple as the common cold could destroy a race unused to it.  At the same time, Arin baffled over why exactly it would even be a problem for him to transmit something if everyone had similarly-working chips implanted in them somewhere…  Unless it was for reasons similar to why everyone needed to be vaccinated for certain diseases to protect immunocompromised individuals who could not receive the vaccination.  
             “Mate has never been hub, correct?”  Graah asked, making Arin pause at that “mate” word, but he couldn’t quite ask Lyrdaanaavydaa for its exact meaning yet.  
             “Never.  First time I took my mate to space, I did not possess an immuno-augmentor.  My people have no use for them.”  
             “Show the mate around.  Such isolation makes adventuring joyful.”  Was a military captain really saying that Lyrdaanaavydaa should show him around just because it will be fun for him?  Arin wasn’t sure how to feel about this strange level of formal yet familiar behavior.  They weren’t here on vacation, they were here on official business!  Business that would decide if a group of people lived or died!  
             “I am sure my mate will enjoy it.” Lyrdaanaavydaa was agreeing with Graah?  What was all this mate business anyway?  Arin had so many questions and zero answers!  “Will you please escort us to our _tatamean_?  I can give a signature for them to contact my partner by once we are there.”  
             “Certainly.” Graah stepped away from Lyrdaanaavydaa then, speaking to their group assembled.  What Arin assumed to be their weapons were lowered and they all visibly relaxed.  After a few more noises from Graah, the lot of them dispersed.  Arin assumed they must’ve either been returning to their ships, or, perhaps, they were now off duty to enjoy what this hub had to offer.  After they had all cleared away, Graah returned their attention to Lydaanaavydaa, “Follow this way.”  
             The much taller alien tugged Arin to follow as they did as Graah asked.  Graah remained silent as they traversed down the ramp to the main deck of the bay, allowing Arin a wider viewing range of the hangar.  Arin also did not miss the way that Lydaanaavydaa visibly relaxed as the walked.  Humans weren’t the only race in the universe given to slouching.  
             “I’ve not had to do that in a very long time.” They said verbally, uncurling their tentacle from Arin’s hand and receding it back into their body.  “I’ve forgotten how tiring it can be.”  
             “Why are you calling me your mate?  Doesn’t that mean husband or something?” Arin questioned immediately, wanting answers asap.  “Just saying, that’s really…”  It made his stomach turn.  
             “To them, you are my mate.” Lyrdaanaavydaa dismissed without even a wave of an arm.  “I can’t explain it right now, but you will find particular respect with the Solgirians in being my mate.  They will not dare to speak ill of you to me or vise versa because to do so is an offense worthy of violent action.  The Solgirians pair off like humans and will viciously defend their loved ones from even _petty_ remarks.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa nodded to themself, the glass bubbles clinking against each other gently as they did so, “I am greatly respected on their planet, they would not dare insult me or my mate.”  
             Something wasn’t adding up in Arin’s head, “You’re a researcher…  How do _you_ exactly get…  I don’t know, _interplanetary_ acclaim?”  Not only was he confused by Lyrdaanaavydaa’s apparently _important_ place in intergalactic society, but he was also painfully distracted by everything that took place in his vicinity.  He saw a group of three Kriranrk clicking amongst themselves; other Solgirians not dressed in uniforms leaned against a wall as they shared what Arin assumed to be food; aliens that resembled balloons carrying smaller balloons placidly floated by squeaking softly; other aliens Arin had never seen before carried themselves with professional and casual comportments both.  It was astounding!   _Oh shit_ , Lyrdaanaavydaa had been talking this whole time.  
              “Are you even listening to me?”  
              “Sorry, man.  There’s so much going on and I want to know _all the things_.”  Arin gave his companion his first smile since yesterday.  “I don’t remember much about being off Earth, so…  You know.”  
             Arin found the zilbyrgh lack of facial expressions frustrating and also wondered why Lyrdaanaavydaa’s body wasn’t changing colors.  He didn’t have the faintest clue about how the alien felt without the color and light show as well as its cranial palpators had been tied up.  He couldn’t see them at all past their wrap and so they couldn’t be observed either erect, or drooping, or flat, or curling around one another, or wiggling…  It was…  Unnerving.  
             Speaking of unnerving, Arin’s wandering gaze fell on an alleyway.  A peculiar set of eyes--round, shiny and black as pots of ink with smaller flecks of ink dotting their perimeter like freckles--caught his attention on a bright red face.  He didn’t have time to focus on whether or not he recognized the alien race because they fled view less than a second after making eye contact.  Arin questioned whether or not he should tell Lyrdaanaavydaa, but it seemed futile to worry about an alien race he didn’t know when he didn’t know _any_ of the other ones walking around either.  
             “Yes, I understand.”  Arin could at least hear the smile in Lyrdaanaavydaa’s voice, bringing him back to the conversation.  “This place is very busy and there are people here even I know nothing about or have only learned about in written texts.”  
             “I’m, just, _wow_.” Arin let himself laugh, “So much!”  
             “Just try to refrain from staring.” They giggled at the enthusiasm.  
             “Won’t people be staring at me though?” Arin supposed, thinking back to mere seconds prior, “They’ve never seen humans before, right?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa snorted at first until they realized that Arin was serious about the question, “That’s not an excuse…”  They said as if that much should’ve been obvious, “I’ve never met an Uuruubthax before, does that mean I’m going to stare at one the first time I meet it?  Without knowing if eye-contact is a sign of aggression?  Or if they transfer genetic material through their eye sockets?”  Lyrdaanaavydaa shrugged, “With so many cultures around, races one is unfamiliar with tend to disappear into the background.”  They motioned Arin to step closer against them as a _giant_ brown being with several protruding structures covered in cilia lumbered past.  “Do you spend time staring at _everyone_ in a room that doesn’t look like you?”  
             Arin nodded, seeing the point, but added, “If someone is unique though…?”  
             “It’s a human thing, I guess.  Don’t worry about it.”  Then Lyrdaanaavydaa had to add, “I hope you’ve not been staring at everyone that passes by this whole time…”  
             “No, I’m not an idiot.”  
             “Ah, good.”  The two followed Graah around the corner down another street crowded with life and color.  
             “Hey, Lyrdaanaavydaa?”  
             “Yes?”  
             “What is an Uuruubthax?”  
             “They look like grey starfish, but have skin like humans.”  
             “And…  Do they…  Transfer genetic stuff with their eyes?”  
             “They don’t have eyes.”  
             “Oh…”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa would’ve been glowing green with adoring amusement if they had been able, “There is a lot I can tell you if you will listen.”  
             “Cool.  Sweet.  How’s a nerd like you get so popular?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa laughed at first, “Researchers like myself have a lot of respect in general throughout galaxies.  I play it down, perhaps, but…  There aren’t many of us that do work outside of our own sectors.  I can thank Bryrrna for my opportunities.”  For more reasons than one, not only was Brian their ship, but also a direct superior in their career.  “The nature of my cultural studies requires me…  Um, _required_ me to be in contact with the populace of planets at all times.  I’m _well-known_ in scholarly circles across galaxies for my extensive works and travels, but I’m not _famous_ on any planet. Graah here, likely, had never heard of me before being charged with locating me.” Lyrdaanaavydaa offered for example.  
             “Oh, okay.”  Arin nodded, trying to remain attentive, but his attention span was swiftly slipping.  
             “At the same time, I know a lot of highly-respected people.  I’ve told you before that I have a lot of friends in _a lot_ of place.”  The alien sounded…  Smug?  Lyrdaanaavydaa was smug?  Was it out of pride or were they considering something that had happened in the past?  
             “So, you’re trying to say you’re _kind of_ a big deal?”  Arin chuckled, brushing off his shoulders in mocking of the envoy.  
             “N-No!  Not at all.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa quickly tried to amend with a nervous chuckle.  “Just…  Don’t be surprised if someone here recognizes me.  I’ve spent a lot of time in this Industrial Cluster.”  
             “Kind of a big deal.” Arin playfully whispered to his companion.  
             Graah began speaking then, snout pointed vertically to the floor as they interrupted.  Lyrdaanaavydaa stood up straight again to address the respectful captain.  
             “We’ve arrived.” Lyrdaanaavydaa simplified the conversation once concluding it with Graah.  “This person we are meeting is called a _tatamean_.  They will be responsible for holding us accountable to our duties.  They will collect us before we are to appear and will lead us to and from the court.  We will need to give our account to them before going to the court…”  
             “They’re like…  A lawyer?”  
             “Not really.  They’re a fancy babysitter.”  Arin could swear that they would’ve rolled their eyes if they could by the tone.  “Making sure we won’t miss our ‘court date,’ so to speak.  Also makes sure that we say in court what we said to them.”  
             “We’re meeting them now?” Arin swallowed, “I don’t remember anything!”  
             “We’re not giving the account _yet_.  We are just checking in so they know we are here.  Giving ‘how you dos.’  If we have a Lodorian, this will be a short meeting.”  
             “When _will_ we give it?”  Arin hoped for a decent span of time.  
             “The morning of the next rotation.  It’s currently morning here right now.”  
             Arin looked around at the building they were situated in.  There was a huge, glass dome far above their heads that showed nothing but stars.  This station was out in space, _above_ Lodora, “How can you tell?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa raised a finger to point at an object attached to the wall of a building they entered.  “Time-keeping is not a uniquely human idea.” They chuckled.  
             “Oh.”  Arin blushed at the obvious answer.  
             Graah came to a stop again outside of a door, they motioned to it with a paw, snout pointed to the ground.  Arin listened as Lyrdaanaavydaa and Graah exchanged a few words.  Graah stood up straight from there and left them on their own, scaly, crocodilian tail swaying placidly behind them as they left.  
             “Is that all?”  Arin questioned, tweaking an eyebrow.  
             “Yes, Graah fulfilled their duties.  I imagine they’re probably going to take a rest interval now with the rest of their crew.”  
             Arin hummed, nodding to himself, “Ever fucked one of them?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa spluttered, a single hand had been raised to knock on the door in front of them, “Arin…”  
             “Have you?”  
             “Yes, Arin, I have.  Why did you need that information?”  
             “You’re a furry.” Arin laughed, doubling over for a second, “Or, excuse me, a _scaley_!”  
             Today was filled with internal eye-rolling on Lyrdaanaavydaa’s part, “Arin, I’m an alien, that means nothing to me.”  They went on with knocking, waiting for some kind of response.  
              “You said there are a lot of ‘hot alien sluts’ in the universe.” Arin continued laughing.  
             “Arin, it’s really none of your…”  Lyrdaanaavydaa trailed off, “Arin, _I_ never told you that.”  
             “You…  Didn’t?”  Arin pulled his eyebrows together, “Oh..  Yeah, Dan did.”  The human nodded, “My mistake.”  
             Though Arin was still differentiating, the slip gave Lyrdaanaavydaa hope.  
             “Let’s get this over with.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa nodded to Arin as they were given a call to enter.  “This will probably be short.”  
  
             As it turned out, no, the meeting was not short.  No, they did _not_ have a Lodorian _tatamean_ , they had a bright yellow alien approximately the size of a dormouse.  Lyrdaanaavydaa informed Arin that this species of alien was from the Triangulum galaxy and it confused them greatly that one of the Ottoveirt had a profession in the Milky Way galaxy in law…  The floating being reminiscent of a dandelion seed flitted about the room energetically, never once settling upon one place.  It spoke in a high pitched voice that grated on _both_ Arin and Lyrdaanaavydaa’s nerves and just _wouldn’t shut up_.  
             “To spare you the exact details,” Lyrdaanaavydaa spoke into Arin’s head, “It’s talking a lot about how frustrating it was to find us…  It is also talking about a place down the street that has amazing _ladirdr_ , a food that is created from the glandular secretions of what you would probably call a ‘space cow’.”  
             “Um… Ew?” Arin responded.  
             “Says the person that willingly ingests molding, calcified secretions from a mutated sweat gland on ‘Earth cows’.” The alien snarked back.  
             “You make everything sound unappetizing and gross.”  
             “You make it sound like as if cultural foods from _every_ planet aren’t disgusting.”  
             “Food is great though.”  
             “You must try _ladirdr_ then.”  
             “I think I’ll pass.”  
             “Suit yourself.”  The envoy went back to listening to the ottoveirt who had not even noticed their deviated attention.  
             “Is Navi gonna shut up at some point?” Arin asked, his stomach grumbling from this talk of food.  
             “I don’t know and I’m not going to ask…”  
             “Ever fucked one of these guys?”  
             “Is that really an appropriate question here?”  
             “I’m not involved in this conversation.  I need _something_ to wonder.”  
             “I’m not really involved past listening either, but I am refraining from probing questions.”  
             “So…  You’re saying you _have_ …?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa was silent at first, “Yes.”  
             “Damn, how?”  
             “Very _carefully_.”  
  
             After what must’ve been a straight hour of letting the ottoveirt yammer on about whatever random thing flew into its head--or…  whole body?--Lyrdaanaavydaa and Arin were permitted to leave.  Upon leaving the legal building, Arin in tow, Lyrdaanaavydaa released the Zibyrgh equivalent of a sigh, “That was shorter than I had been dreading.”  
             “You mean it could’ve talked for _longer_?!” Arin exclaimed, mouth hanging open.  
             “Oh, yes…  They never shut up.  Once upon a time, it was a common myth that if they ever stopped talking their circulatory system would cease to function.”  
             “I can see where the idea came from…”  Arin smoothed his clothes out--this whole time he’d been in nothing but his pajamas--looking around curiously, “So, what is this place anyway?”  
             “Oh, yes, I haven’t explained that.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa started off down the street, beckoning Arin to follow, “This is the Lodorian city of Chameta.  Um, you can think of it like New York City, immigrants from all around come here to obtain citizenship to the Industrial Cluster.  It is also a hub for all kinds of legal and military proceedings and it’s a lot to explain in one go.  It’s better to experience it rather than spend all day talking about it.”  
             “Why is it up in space…?”  
             “It was built a long time ago before the immuno-augmentor chips were invented.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa reached out to poke Arin’s bicep, “It was originally a quarantine city to make sure no one would bring untoward germs down to the planets in the Cluster.”  
             “Uh…  Wouldn’t that mean that this place was…  Kind of a--”  
             “A cesspool of various diseases?  Yes.  It should come as no surprise that this Cluster’s version of the CDC is located in this city.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa didn’t even look back at Arin as they completely glossed over the city’s horrific history.  “Are you hungry?”  
             “I… Guess?  What can I eat here?”  Arin detected all kinds of smells, most of which were quite appetizing, but he was afraid to ask what created them.  
             “I will have to be the judge of that, um…  Solgirian cuisine is the most Earth-like food here.  The Solgirians have an omnivorous diet of meat and plant matters and have a nutritional breakdown _similar_ to humans.  I would imagine…  Quickly after that is Irapraxian cuisine, you would call it ‘vegetarian’ and…  You can probably stomach Lodorian food, but it’s horrendously bland and I don’t know why you would want to try eating it.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa shivered, “Don’t ever eat anything from Cazty.  Just don’t fucking do it.”  
             “Isn’t there one other planet in this Cluster?  Gumball planet?”  
             “The ‘Quins thrive of photosynthesis, they don’t eat.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa watched a series of expressions play out over Arin’s face.  They _loved_ that sense of child-like wonder on his face whenever he heard something new that blew his mind.  It just made them fall in love with him all over again and again.  “Want to know something else about the ‘Quins?”  
             “What?”  
             “They look like giant, living flowers.”  
              “Really?!  What kinds of flowers?!”  
             If Lyrdaanaavydaa wasn’t wearing their chemical disruptors, they would’ve been shining bright green at Arin’s enthusiasm, “Something like a cross between…  A chrysanthemum and a rose.  They come in _all_ colors.  A group of them together looks like a moving rainbow.”  
             Arin clutched onto Lyrdaanaavydaa’s envoy robe, staring up at them, “Can we _go_ there?”  
             “Sure, after all of this mess is sorted…  We can spend a lot of time out here if you would like…”  Though, Lyrdaanaavydaa recognized that they wouldn’t be able to spend _too long_ out.  Brian had a family and they all had friends back on Earth waiting to see them.  It was too much to consider taking an intergalactic vacation with their Bonded and Brian for awhile.  The vision of waking up in the morning on Klesum with Arin wrapped up in their arms was a very tantalizing thought nonetheless.  
             “Where’s Dan?”  Arin asked instead of answering Lyrdaanaavydaa’s proposition.  
             The vision of a quaint vacation together was so easily smashed, “Arin, I _need_ you to understand that Dan is fine.  He’s _with_ you.”  
             “I need you to cut the bullshit.”  
             “Can we not fight?  Not here.  You are the representative of your race and it would reflect poorly on all humans for you to behave violently.”  
             “I never wanted this role.” Arin pouted, folding his arms over his chest, neck craned back to look up at Lyrdaanaavydaa’s face.  
             “Let’s focus on food, you’re grumpy because you’re hungry.”  
             “I’m _pissed off_ because you won’t tell me where my best friend is.”  
             “I _am_ your best friend.”  
             “No, my best friend is _Dan_.  You know?  The _human_?”  
             “Dan is not human!” Lyrdaanaavydaa prodded Arin’s chest with a strong tendil, not realizing their own strength when Arin stumbled backwards a few feet.  
             “Don’t you fucking shove me!” Arin threw his shoulder into Lyrdaanaavydaa’s body, the squishy alien backpedaling to keep themself from falling over completely on top of all of the fancy clothing.  The human was very surprised by how light the being was in spite of its evident size and strength.  He gritted his teeth and realized that perhaps he _did_ have the upperhand here.  
             “Arin!  Wait!  Stop!”  Lyrdaanaavydaa twisted away as the human swatted at them, “You can really hurt me!”  They brought their cells closer together, diminishing their size significantly, but ensuring the greater structural integrity of their body.  Nonetheless, the process was only so successful, they couldn’t risk breaking the many glass bubbles inside their body.  
             “Then fucking start talking!”  Arin wasn’t malicious, he didn’t _want_ to hurt the alien, far from it, but everyone doesn’t always make the best decisions when they are upset and hungry and far away from home.  “Where is Dan?!  And what do you mean he’s not human?!”  
             “Please, Arin, keep your voice down.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa gestured with their hands, seeing that other passers by had begun to take notice of the disturbance.  A pair of Solgirian females took especial interest in the situation, Lyrdaanaavydaa saw it in the way they squared their shoulders that they were ready to intervene if need be.  “I just said this is _not_ the place for this.”  
             “I _really_ don’t care, man!  I want to know!”  
             “Bryrrna, please shut up him.” Lyrdaanaavydaa pleaded.  
             “Brian’s n--” Arin felt his mouth clamp shut as well as his body go stiff and incompliant.  Not a second later the immobility turned into panic until Arin felt the brush of _outraged_ emotion against his consciousness. “ _What the fuck is wrong with you_?”  Brian violently cleared the phlegm from Arin’s throat.  
             “Brian, I just--” Arin choked as the ydyrn silenced him again, Lyrdaanaavydaa stepping closer.  They curved their body to bend more down to Arin’s level, the human fighting for words, “I’m…  Sorry…”  
             “ _Sorry won’t be good enough if you_ ** _ever_** _think of hitting Lyrdaanaavydaa again.  Are we fucking_ ** _clear_** _, Arin_?”  
             “Crystal.” Arin ground out, taking a deep breath as Brian released his hold on his body.  He looked away from the scrutinizing eyes of the alien, putting his hands into his pajama pockets.  “I said I was sorry…”  
             “I’ve never known you to hit anyone…   _Ever_ …”  Lyrdaanaavydaa didn’t dare to reach out to touch him after that earlier explosion, but something was clearly wrong here.  “Not once…  Arin, _please_ talk to me.”  
             “First you want me to shut up and now you want me to talk?” The human spit, not noticing the Solgirian females were still nearby, monitoring the situation.  “I want you to make up your fucking mind.”  
             The proper alien looked as if they wanted to melt, only after the action was unsuccessful did Arin realize that anything past a casual slouch was impossible with the glass helix inside of their body.  It still held Lyrdaanaavydaa’s body straight and composed as much as they seemed to desperately want to emote, “Arin, I’ve been trying for some time to explain things to you.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa looked to their side, growing weary of the spectators of their momentary spat.  “Can we go somewhere where people _aren’t_ watching us?”  
             Arin peered about, seeing the exact pair that was unnerving the alien, “Ah, yeah…”  
             “Thank you.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa strode silently into an adajacent alley, beckoning Arin to follow to the relative privacy.  
             Arin propped himself up against the wall of a building, folding his arms over his chest, “Are you going to finally tell me what’s going on with Dan?”  
             “Okay, Arin, I’ve… Been _trying_ to get you to remember things, but it seems that there’s…  Been an unintended side-effect on the memory suppression process.  I suspect it,” Lyrdaanaavydaa shrugged, “I suspect that from your recent, ehm…  Moodiness that it’s caused a bit of… Damage.”  
             “You think I’m brain-damaged because I’m fucking pissed off that you won’t let me see my friend and you’ve physically assaulted me?” Arin’s disgust for the whole situation was plain on his face.  
             “I never suggested _brain-damage_ and I’m not saying that for what you _remember_ these aren’t logical conclusions you’ve made.” They amended their earlier hypothesis, “It’s just evident to me that the memory tampering has made…  Things very difficult for you.  You have a lot of stress on you and I’m sorry that I’m not exactly a joy to be around right now.”  
             Arin’s eyebrows remained pulled together, “What kind of…  Damage do you think has been done?”  
             “I think a good deal of the unintended problem is emotional tampering to be honest.  I’ve never…   _Ever_ seen you hit someone out of anger before.  Or even entertain the thought, it is worrying for me and I wish to run a formal analysis on your mental processes…”  
             “What would…  That entail?”  Arin tightened his arms around himself and stood up straighter.  
             “Some time inside your head.”  
             Arin balked at such an invasive measure, “What?”  
             “It’s nothing we’ve not done in the past.” Lyrdaanaavydaa assured, “It’s a lot less terrifying than what Brian does to you anyway, I’d imagine.”  
             “What will you be doing..?”  
             “I want to try looking through your memories…  Maybe piece together some of the stubborn ones…  What is most concerning to me is that you don’t seem to have any emotional connections to the things you remember.  If you did…  I think that one of your more, eh, as we’re going to say for now, _traumatic_ memories would have been seen very differently.”  
             “You mean, the…?”  
             “Yes, that one.”  
             “I still don’t believe you.”  
             “I know you don’t.  That’s okay.”  Not really, but for now it was, “I’m going to need you to remain open-minded, nonetheless.”  
             “Okay, fine, I’ll try that…  Now, what about Dan, you said he’s not human?”  
             “You…  Remember that I said that?”  
             “Yeah?  Why wouldn’t I?”  
             “Because this is around the…”  Lyrdaanaavydaa did a quick count, “Twenty-third time I’ve told you that.”  Granted, not in those exact words, “And each time you’ve promptly forgotten I said anything at all.”  
             Arin’s face went blank and Lyrdaanaavydaa was terrified the same thing was happening again, “ _Really_?”  
             “Don’t fucking scare me like that, man.  If I had a heart it would be attacking me right now.” Lyrdaanaavydaa made another alien sigh, not missing the confused expression that came to Arin’s face next.  
             “You sometimes sound a lot like Dan…”  
             “Can I examine you later?” Lyrdaanaavydaa skipped the comment.  
             Arin suppressed a chill of excitement in the back of his spine.  What in the name of fuck was his body doing?  
             “Yeah, if you think it will help.” Arin nodded.  
             “I hope it will…  Maybe we can see what you remember about the incident above Taeotquin too in the process.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa nodded hopefully, “Get food with me?”  
             Arin silently nodded.  
  
             It took some time for the two to decide what to eat and where to go.  Lyrdaanaavydaa hadn’t eaten Solgirian cuisine in quite some time and was, admittedly, excited.  Tragically, the dish they missed the most couldn’t be found in Chameta.  Disappointed, but not discouraged, Lyrdaanaavydaa dragged Arin all around the business district in search of the perfect place.  There were rumors of a meal counter with the _best_ Ka’likryleet\--a collection of spices, a nut paste and sometimes meat wrapped inside the leaves of a large plant--but it was proving difficult to locate.  
             Arin was flabbergasted at the wash of color, sounds and smells.  His alien guid ran him every which way, around corners, down alleys and up flights of stairs.  Lyrdaanaavydaa seemed to be looking for something in particular, but was not forthcoming with this information.  Not like it really would’ve meant much to Arin anyway, he supposed, this was all too new to him.  During their journey, he watched Lyrdaanaavydaa squeak, mumble and chatter at length with more aliens than Arin had time to ask the names of!  
             “Dude, I’m _very_ hungry.”  Arin eventually complained.  
             “Just hang on, buddy.  I’ve almost found the place I’m looking for.” The zilbyrgh assured him with a pat to the shoulder.  
             Arin sighed, raising his hands up to run them through his greasy hair.  It didn’t _matter_ that his whole body had been sterilized several times in one of the ship’s many rooms, the field didn’t remove body oils.  It was impractical to use limited water supplies on personal hygiene in space, however.  “Also, I have a question.”  
             “Yes, what?” Lyrdaanaavydaa took a hold on Arin’s wrist to tug him along through the crush of humanoid and non-humanoid life.  
             “Can I take a shower somewhere?  Or a bath?  Humans can’t be the only species in the universe that bathe…”  
             “Ah, no, that is a correct assumption.” Lyrdaanaavydaa paused at the mouth of an alleyway, looking up a set of stairs that wound along the outside of a conical building, “There are public bathhouses here, if that appeals to you.”  
             “Uh…  I’m…”  
             “I can pay for you, if you would like?”  Lyrdaanaavydaa looked back over their shoulder to Arin.  
             “I don’t know if I want a bunch of aliens just…  Staring at my ding-a-ling, you know?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa laughed, “Is that _really_ what you’re concerned about?  A bunch of aliens that have never seen human genitals before staring at you?”  
             “Ah, well,” Arin blushed, “it’s just intimidating!”  
             “ _I_ can clean you on the ship is the other option.”  
             “What?” Arin blinked, “What would you do?”  
             “Remove the surface oils from your body…”  Perhaps the first layer of dead skin too.  
             “I… Guess that’s okay.  Why aren’t there showers on the ship anyway?”  The impracticality of using precious water in hygiene recurred to him, but, he figured he’d ask anyway.  
             “Does it look like I ever need a bath?” Lyrdaanaavydaa motioned to their general body, “I can choose to absorb anything on my skin at anytime.  I’m a self-cleaning model.” They laughed. “The most I ever need are items brought aboard sterilized.”  
             “You all are constantly clean?”  
             “I’m surprised we don’t squeak.”  
             Arin laughed, “Okay, I guess… You can clean me before the… Eh… Exam later?”  
             “Yes, but first, let’s focus on eating.”  
             “Where are we going anyway?”  
             “Don’t worry about it, I think we’re almost there…”  
  
             After twenty more minutes of searching, the desired counter was found.  It was three stories up and nestled in a small alcove.  One could literally call it a hole in the wall as it looked like the opening for the counter was created by a misplaced wrecking ball.  Lyrdaanaavydaa ordered nearly everything on the menu at the counter as they took a seat, Arin was…  Less sure about any of this.  He asked the envoy several questions about everything.  He took so long that the Solgirian male was beginning to become irate with the pair.  
             “Okay, Arin, I bought more food than I could ever possibly eat myself,” that wasn’t _technically_ true, there wasn’t much of a limit on what Lyrdaanaavydaa could ingest at one time, but it would be greedy of them to consume _all_ of their order by themself. “So, how about you pick and choose from my order and we give this guy a break?”  
             “How do you know they’re a guy?” Arin raised an eyebrow, he hadn’t heard Lyrdaanaavydaa use any sort of gendered pronoun for anyone since arriving on the floating city.  
             “Um, I’m going by Earth classifications here, uh, but, they do not bear the species’ young, so it’s more for you benefit that I said ‘guy.’”  
             “No, I mean…”  Arin shrugged, “They all kind of look the same to me, how can you tell the difference?”  
             “Oh, they have a mating-display frill at the bottom of their neck.” Lyrdaanaavydaa vaguely motioned, they didn’t want the server to think the two of them were conversing about them, it was rude.  Meanwhile, the server had their head respectfully turned away and was staring at something supposedly far off in the distance.  “They also have a lighter voice.  Females tend to be a little bigger.”  
             Arin nodded at the explanation.  As Lyrdaanaavydaa went back to conversing with the Solgirian in their mother tongue, Arin wondered other things about the species.  They looked like lizards--and so far seemed quite similar to lizards of Earth in other respects--so he wondered if they laid eggs or if they possibly were ectothermic.  Lyrdaanaavydaa surely knew the answers to almost all questions of Solgirian anatomy as well considering they had been intimate with members of the species in the past…  Arin then considered what their genitals must look like…  Damn it.  
             “What are you thinking about?” Lyrdaanaavydaa asked once the server departed behind a door to bark a few orders.  “You look disturbed.” They laughed.  
             “Uh…” To be honest or not to be?  “You’ve had… Sex with one before, so… I was just…?”  
             “Oh my god, Arin.” Lyrdaanaavydaa laughed more heartily, “Is that all you’re thinking about?”  
             “Not all, no.” Arin smirked with good humor.  
             “You’re not _jealous,_ are you?” They went on to ask, a smug note in their voice.  
             “Why the fuck would I be jealous?” Arin grumbled, “You already know I think you’re repulsive.”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa was silent for around a minute, staring down at the much shorter human, “Right.”  They turned back to the counter, not wishing to speak further.  When the food was delivered, Lyrdaanaavydaa accepted it and removed a cylindrical object from their body, passing it over the counter.  The server raised what appeared to be a larger object of the same use and twisted both of them a half-turn.  They tapped the ends of the two objects together, grunted, and handed back the item to the envoy alien.  Lyrdaanaavydaa stored their “wallet” and took the many containers of food, no longer wishing to eat at the counter.  
           “Where are we going?” Arin asked, following behind the silent alien as they descended the rickety stairs extending out from the side of a building.  
             “Home.”  They shortly replied.  
***  
             Arin hadn’t expected the treatment waiting for him back on the ship.  Lyrdaanaavydaa was silent the whole way, pointedly refusing to answer any questions Arin had.  Once on the ship, they scanned all the foods they had bought, passed two of the dishes to Arin in the cockpit and left.  The human supposed they had gone to Dan’s room farther back in the ship, and that part was fine.  The part that bothered him more was that Brian was also refusing to speak to him.  
             Was his behavior earlier really so shocking?  Was he not _allowed_ to be angry about…   _All_ of this?!  His memory had been tampered with years ago--ostensibly he agreed to it, but what proof did he have?--he was far away from Earth, every cultural context he had ever learned or language or _anything_ was useless here!  He had to eat food he knew nothing about, his only lifeline to any of this was an alien he was pretty sure had raped him--and claimed to be in love with him at the same time--Brian had consistently took the alien’s side in all of this also…  Not to mention he had no idea where his best friend was.  His best friend who… Wasn’t human?  Thinking about the storage bay experience and Dan’s carrying him up the shaft with multiple arms, he supposed he knew that somewhere…  Why did it take Lyrdaanaavydaa telling him that to realize it though?  
             “Is that what we can’t talk about?” Arin mused as he sat down his hand-held light Dan had given him.  The Solgirian had not provided any kind of eating utensils--if they even used utensils to eat--so Arin had to trek down to the kitchen to retrieve cutlery.  
             He was unable to tell the exact color of the dish he was eating, but it was covered in a thick sauce.  It wasn’t bad actually…  It was spicy and slightly sweet--the texture took some getting used to though, it was similar to boiled bamboo shoots, leading him to believe he was eating plant matter.  
             “Why can’t we talk about it?” He continued to talk to himself, growing uncomfortable in the dark room.  The only light was the red one above the iris to Brian’s stomach and his eyes were beginning to play tricks on him.  How did Dan stand being alone on this ship for _years_ at a time?  Anyway, subject at hand, “Maybe…  That’s the thing I keep forgetting…”  Lyrdaanaavydaa had told him as much, but it made more sense in the moment once considering earlier that week.  “Dan’s not _human_ , okay…  What _is_ he?”  He shook his head, “That doesn’t make any sense.”  His temples pounded and on top of that, it felt like he was also getting a sinus headache.  “Fuck, I’ll think about it later.”  He knew that wasn’t the answer to solving the riddle, but every time he wanted to think about it all it ever did was literally lead to a headache…   _Maybe I am as damaged as Lyrdaanaavydaa says…_  
             He had to talk to them, he knew, the two of them needed to perform that exam Lyrdaanaavydaa proposed earlier…  All the same, Arin felt that some distance was necessary to let earlier blow over.  Lyrdaanaavydaa had seemed more than a little upset by Arin’s words.  A part of Arin wanted to blow that off as well, _he_ didn’t love the alien, it didn’t matter if _they_ were in love.  Romantic love required participation from both parties to work, what the fuck should he care?  Lyrdaanaavydaa hadn’t exactly been all polite and nice the whole time anyway!  Except that they kind of had been…  Until Arin really pissed them off…  Should he apologize?  He didn’t know, he needed to talk to Dan, but he couldn’t _find_ Dan.  It was like he had just evaporated and vanished.  
 _What if Lyrdaanaavydaa is Dan?_ He wondered for a second then laughed to himself, _Yeah, right._  He continued on eating by himself, alone in the bowels of an alien ship.  



	7. Movement II:  Take Me On, I'll Be Gone in a Day or Two

             “ _Bryrrna, I would_ ** _love_** _to, but we can’t_.” Dan reminded, _adamant_ on his opinion.  
             “ _It’s easy for you to say, Lyrdaanaavydaa…  Your bonded is_ ** _with_** _you.  Mine, my_ ** _offspring_** _are left behind, thinking I am either dead or have just absconded!_ ”  
             “ _Bryrrna…  I’m sorry, but…  What do you propose you and I do?_ ”  Dan stroked the _zaaytyr_ wrapped around his body “ _What message could you and I send that would either be receivable by human technology or would reach them in a timely fashion?_ ”  He felt the _zaaytyr_ tighten around him.  
             “ _I feel…  Powerless…_ ”  Brian lamented, “ _I’m not used to this…”_ _  
__“I know, I’m sorry.”_  
_“I miss Rachel…  And Audrey.”_ _  
__“I know you do.”_  Dan couldn’t fault him, “ _If we decide to vacation, we will have to go close enough to Earth to send a message.”_  Not to mention, Dan and Arin would have to check-in with Ross, Suzy, Barry and everyone else…   _“What do you think is going on on Earth right now?_ ”  
_“I haven’t a clue…  I’m afraid to think about it, really.”_  
             “ _Me too…”_  Dan stroked the _zaaytyr_ that squeezed him, “ _Don’t be sad.  Everything will be okay.  Rachel is wonderful._ ”  
             “ _But I’ve lied to Rachel for so long.”_ _  
__“She will understand.  How could she not?  She loves you.”_ _  
__“She loves Harold’s_ ** _body_** _.”_ _  
__“Bryrrna!  You know that’s not true!”_ _  
__“What proof do I have?”_ _  
__“You’re starting to sound like Arin.  Don’t make me find the mountains of proof you have inside here.”_  Dan would’ve tsked his tongue.   _“She loves_ ** _you_** _, not just your body._ ”  Human stuff was weird sometimes--all the same, Dan sifted quickly through some memories.  
_“Lyrda…”_ _  
__“No, I won’t sit here while you doubt her.  She’s too wonderful and means too much to you for me to allow that.”_  He huffed, “ _Shame on you.”_ _  
__  
__“So, you’re…  Not Harold?” Rachel asked Bryrrna._ _  
__“No…  I’m sorry…”  Bryrrna answered, licking his lips.  He remembered everything about her.  He remembered her smile, her gleaming eyes, her laugh, everything…  It was like coming home every time they spoke.  He couldn’t go on with this charade anymore.  Bryrrna didn’t know if he loved her, it had only been a few months since meeting her--and human emotions felt_ ** _weird_** _\--but he valued her more than enough to feel guilty for lying._ _  
__Rachel pulled her robe tighter around herself, looking him up and down, “Who are you, then?”  She shifted away from him, leaning back on one hip._ _  
__“My…  My name is Brian.”_ _  
__“Brian?” She sounded skeptical, “And… You’re what?  A second personality?  A body snatcher?  You obviously remember a lot…  How are you not Harold?”_ _  
__“I am a physicist, not an English professor.”_ _  
__“Harold, if you’re trying--”_ _  
__“I’m_ ** _not_** _Harold.”  Brian stopped her in a gentle voice, “My name is Brian.  I’m a theoretical physicist.  I am not Harold.  Harold is…  He’s gone, Rachel.”  For some reason, that made Brian sad to admit, “Even still…  I remember everything he did…  And I feel…”  He swallowed, seeing the way she shook her head and backed away from him._ _  
__“If I…  Could say that I hadn’t noticed how different you’ve been, I’d say bullshit on all of this.”  Rachel prefaced, “I can’t say that though…  After…  After not having him for so long, maybe I just have been in denial.”  She shook her head, “What happened to him?  To my husband?”_ _  
__Brian closed his eyes, pursing his lips._ _  
__“Brian?”_ _  
__He opened his eyes again, “I don’t know.  I feel fine and he had no recollection of the inciting incident.”_ _  
__“So…  It’s just been you.  This whole time.  The…  The flowers?  The dates?  Our anniversary…?”  Tears came to her eyes, taking a deep breath to keep from sobbing.  “Is that why you…?  Because…?”_ _  
__Brian slowly nodded, “It didn’t seem right to…”  How did Lyrdaanaavydaa ever successfully navigate these things?!  How did they have sex with anything that was sentient so casually?!  “To…  Make… Um…”_ _  
__“To have sex.”  Rachel finished for him._ _  
__“Yes, to have sex.  When I’m not who you think I am.”_ _  
__Silence fell between them._ _  
__“So, my husband is gone.”  Rachel spoke at last, her voice strained with contained emotion._ _  
__“I’m sorr--”_ _  
__“_ ** _Sorry_** _?!”_ _  
__Brian looked away.  Neither spoke for a long while after that.  Rachel stepped to sit on the edge of her bed.  She looked back at the piece of furniture that she and_ ** _Brian_** _had slept together in for the past few months._  
_“Rachel?”_ _  
__“What do you want to do?” She took a deep, calming breath and let it out._ _  
__“I don’t know.  I was hoping you would…  This is very confusing for me too.”_ _  
__Rachel gave him a critical look, “I imagine it must be…”  Her face softened, “Has it been you this whole time?  Just you?”_ _  
__“Yes…  Everything.  I’m sorry to have deceived you.”_ _  
__“Why did you come find me?”  She shrugged up at him.  “You didn’t have to.”  Rachel then paused, “Unless you just found it convenient?”_ _  
__“No, it wasn’t that.”  Brian jumped in swiftly.  He felt a stirring of something inside him.  He felt…_ ** _Anger_** _, hurt, confusion and then, finally…  Acceptance…  Of what, he didn’t know, but the feeling was definitely there.  “I wanted to know you.  Harold held you in such high esteem and had so many…  Many great memories of you.  I thought I could…  At least be your friend.”  He was unused to these human smiles, but he was slowly getting acclimated to human facial muscles.  The more Rachel spoke to him, the better the smiles felt._ _  
__“So, you thought you could just come in and_ ** _replace_** _him?”  Oh, that was offense, that was bad.  Her brows wrinkled, “You don’t even_ ** _smile_** _like him.”_ _  
__“I know I could never replace Harold to you.  I’m not trying to.  We are entirely different people, he and I.  I understand that he had friends too, a career…”  Brian didn’t know what to do here.  He had long learned that humans desired physical contact during hard times, just like the Zilbyrgh--and did he ever enjoy a good hug, kiss and some cuddles, holy-_ ** _wow_** _\--but he knew such actions also meant nothing from a stranger.  “I don’t know how to navigate any of this.”  He swallowed, the inherent vulnerability of humans making him want to squirm, “This is…  Scary for me too.”_ _  
__Rachel stood again after a time.  She stepped over to him, “Do you have somewhere you can go?”_ _  
__Brian had never expected human emotional pain to be so sharp and powerful.  Arin hadn’t once been exaggerating when he said he loved Dan so much it hurt…  “Yes.” He croaked._ _  
__“Do you have a phone?”_ _  
__“Uh…”  Brian gestured to his pocket, “Just the one.”_ _  
__“Keep it…  I’ll call you, okay?”_ _  
__“What?” He looked to her hopefully._ _  
__“I just…  My husband is dead and…  I want some time for that.  I need to…”  She trailed off, fighting back tears.  “I need to decide what I’m going to do, and it just will be easier if you’re not here.”_ _  
__“Okay.”  Brian nodded, stiffening his back as he pulled himself together.  “I’ll be waiting when you’re ready, and after that we can decide what’s going to happen from there.”_ _  
__Rachel nodded, not looking at him, “Take what you need.  Just get out.”_ _  
__  
__“Lyrda, I fail to see how this is--”_ _  
__“Shh, stop fussing, I’m not done.”_ Dan tried to soothe. _  
__“You’re going to have to be done, you have more pressing matters to attend on the eve of the hearing.”_ _  
_ Dan sighed, “ _You and I will pick this up later.  I love you.”_  
             “ _I love you too.”_  
             Dan disentangled himself from the nerve and opened the lid of his tank, he crawled out, closing it after him and dropped to the floor.  He brought himself up to his full height, grateful that he was no longer in his stiff, stuffy envoy clothes.  Banking that Arin was in the decks below, just lazing about or doing whatever else it was that Arin did while he was alone, Dan descended the chutes.  He kept his body invisible, not wanting to give away his approach towards Arin’s dorm, once he arrived, he found Arin asleep.  The heavy carbs in the food Dan had left him must’ve taken their toll. _  
_ “Arin…”  Dan reached a tentacle out and gingerly nudged his side.  
             “Mmn?” Arin took in a deep breath and yawned, “Who’s there?”  He reached for the bedside table, groping for the light, but found it just out of reach.  
             “It’s me, we need to get to work.”  
             Arin’s hand froze, “Dan?”  
             Oh, wait…  Arin couldn’t see him!  Dan reached a quick tentacle out to wrap around Arin’s wrist, effectively keeping the light out of his grasp, “Yes, it’s me.”  
             “Dan, where have you been!?”  Arin sat up, reaching his other hand over to grab the arm wrapped around his. “I’ve been so worried!  And I--!  I saw aliens!  So many aliens!  And Lyrdaanaavydaa took me around Chameta and it was so-so-so-just, _fucking wow,_ man!”  
             Dan giggled, wanting to flush green, but controlling himself, “Chameta is a sight to behold, yeah.”  
             “Have you been okay?”  
             “I’ve been just fine, Aer.” Dan stepped closer to him in the darkness, nudging his squishy body against Arin’s knees.  
             “That Lyrdaanaavydaa dude put some kind of chip in me…”  
             Dan sighed, “That’s the _same_ implant I told you that you were going to need.  It keeps you from getting sick anyway.”  
             “Yeah, I know, just…  They…  They said they loved me…”  
             “They do.” Dan admitted, “Very much.”  He reached a tendril out to fix Arin’s long hair behind one of his ears.  
             “But, I thought I loved you?  And…  You and I…?”  
             “Our love is the same, Aer.”  
             “Do you still love me?” Arin asked the darkness, almost afraid of what Dan’s answer might be.  Dan felt the human’s uncertainty filter through his skin and Dan didn’t know what the right answer was here to quell that discomfort.  
             “I do.  Yes.”  He took the plunge.  
             “Ah…”  They were both quiet, the darkness between them filled with questions rather than awkwardness. “All this time?”  
             “Yes.”  
             “Why didn’t you--”  
             “You already know the answer to that.”  
             “I do.”  
             “Ah, Lyrdaanaavydaa told me… Um…  That…”  
             “What?”  
             “You’re… Not…  Human.”  
             “I’m not, no.”  
             “What are you, then?”  
             “I can’t say…  You might forget again.  I know Lyrdaanaavydaa expressed to you that there’s something wrong with your memories.  I think I know how it happened too.”  
             “Yeah, they said we have to do some kind of exam.”  Arin let go of Dan’s “wrist,” reaching out for his body, running a hand down the soft, squishy exterior of the other person.  
             “That’s why I’m down here, actually.”  
             “Are you just coming to get me?”  
             “No, you said you wanted to be cleaned.” Dan chuckled, finding Arin’s hand and threading his fingers with Arin’s.  
             “Oh,” Arin let out a sigh of relief, “you can do that?”  
             “I figured you’d be more comfortable with me doing it.”  Dan reasoned, even though he hadn’t really given it any thought before.  
              “Yeah, that, uh,” Arin nervously chuckled, “does sound better.  What do I have to do?”  
              “You can start by standing up and taking your clothes off.”  
             “Getting frisky, eh?” Arin chuckled to ease some of his awkwardness, standing up to do as asked and using Dan as a post to remain stable.  The complete dark still threw off his balance, “Can I turn the light on?”  
             “I would prefer it if you didn’t.”  
             “Why?  Do you not want to see me naked?” Arin teased.  
             “No, it’s not that.”  
             “Do you…  Not want _me_ to see _you_ , then?”  It didn’t take him long to figure things out for sure.  
             “I would prefer it if you didn’t.  Not until after the exam has been concluded.”  
             “Are you scary or something?”  Arin reached a probing hand up Dan’s lithe body.  He quickly found out just how much taller than him Dan was, he couldn’t even find the man’s head…  
             “No…  At least, I don’t think I am.  I just don’t look like myself right now.  The self that you know, anyway.” Dan gently reached a hand up to stroke Arin’s.  
             “What _do_ you look like, then?”  
             “We’ll talk more about that later and, depending upon how things go, maybe I can even show you.”  Dan hoped things would go so well, anyway.  “Let’s focus on one thing at a time.  Get undressed, and I’ll clean you.”  
             “How are you going to do that, exactly?” Arin asked, self-conscious as he stepped out of his underwear and kicked it away with his pajama pants.  
             “You’ll see.  I’ve never done this to you before, it might tickle a little.” Dan warned with a warm tone of voice, pressing his gelatinous form against Arin’s back.  “I’m also going to have to clean _everywhere_ , so, be prepared for that.”  
             Arin giggled at first, feeling his skin as it began to tingle.  It felt a little bit like the softest of scrub brushes was massaging the first layer of his skin.  When Dan’s body spread from his back under his arms, he grew more boisterous, “Dude!  I can’t!” He gasped between laughs, supported by Dan’s body.  He twisted and writhed in Dan’s “grip” unable to escape, “This is so not fair!”  The biggest grin, all the while, was plastered upon Arin’s face, Dan’s own giggles adding in to Arin’s at the human’s humorous reaction to the cleaning process.  “What are you even doing this is _so weird_!”  Arin worked hard to not elbow Dan off him as he felt his friend extend down his arms too, towards his hands.  
              “I’m removing oils and dead skin.  Basically digesting it.” Dan explained without too much detail.  
             “You’re _eating_ me?” Arin suddenly didn’t like the sound of that anymore. The tingling all over his body seeming the slightest bit sinister.  
             “Not _you_ , just the dirty stuff you don’t want anymore.  Hold still.”  Dan’s enveloping body completely enclosed Arin up to his neck, “This will feel very weird, but I just want to make sure you’re _completely_ clean, okay?  Just… Tell me to stop if you don’t like it.”  
             “What are you do--” Arin squeaked as he felt something intrude between his buttocks, “Dan!” It was only made worse by the massaging sensation, he felt his face flush as a warm pool of arousal settled in the pit of his stomach.  Dan wasn’t _inside_ him, certainly not, he wasn’t that rude, but the movement--the _massaging_ \--near his anus was really…   _Intimately_ good.  He tried to move his hands up to cover his face in his embarrassment, but found them still being cleaned by Dan’s very large body.  Dan had graciously left a bubble of space around Arin’s genitals, Dan didn’t want Arin to think he was intentionally stimulating him.  However, this provided space also allowed Arin’s dick room to become erect.  
             “Do you want me to stop?” Dan questioned, feeling both Arin’s arousal and discomfort.  
             “Is this all necessary?” Arin timidly asked back instead of answering.  
             “I just want you to be clean and… These, um… Areas usually collect the most, er, dirt, you know…”  Maybe Dan did have less than pure _thoughts_ about being so thorough with cleaning, but, hereto, his _intentions_ had been strictly professional.  “I don’t have to do the _rest_ of you, if you’re not comfortable with it…”  
             “You’re basically eating my ass right now, I don’t know if things can get much more uncomfortable than this.”  
             “Do you want me to put you down?”  
             “No…”  
             They reached a momentary, silent impasse.  
             “What do you want me to do?” Dan chose to press on, unable to handle the silence for more than a few seconds.  
             “You can…  Keep cleaning…” Arin swallowed, shivering in spite of the warm water bed that encapsulated his body, “Did we ever… Do… Do stuff like this?”  
             “Not this exact thing, but similar things, yes.” Dan reassured.  
             “So, you know, that… I…?”  
              “That you what?” Dan wasn’t trying to tease him or be facetious, he wanted clarity, there was no room for misinterpretation.  
              “That I’m sort of, you know, submissive?”  Uegh, getting that word out was like pulling teeth except he didn’t feel any better afterward for having said it.  “And I like… Um…”  
             “Yes, I know.” Dan comforted, pressing a little tentacle to Arin’s cheek in a kiss.  
             “You’re okay with that?”  
             “Why wouldn’t I be?  It’s a lot of fun.”  
             “You’re sure?”  Arin squirmed a little, Dan had lightened his grip, allowing for a greater range of movement.  
             “I am sure.”  Dan paused before adding, “This might also help you remember some things…”  
             “You think so?”  
             “I hope as much.”  
             “Okay, we’ll…  Uh, just have to see, right?”  
             “Right.  I’m going to start again, okay?”  
             Arin took a deep breath and let it out, “Okay.” He gasped and tried to curl in on himself when the massaging restarted right against his opening.  To make matters worse, Dan closed the bubble around Arin’s erect dick, filling every nook and cranny on the exterior of the body part and its surrounding anatomy.  “Aah,” Arin fought the urge to squirm, knowing he was helplessly stuck inside of his friend--as odd an idea as that was--”I can’t, _aah_ , hurt you, can I?  By moving?”  
             “For right now, no.  Don’t be too violent, though.” Dan cautioned, feeling Arin’s opening beginning to relax from all the gentle attention.  He also, more acutely, felt Arin’s pulse throughout his body and specifically in his penis.  
             “I didn’t plan on-- _fuuuuuck_ \--” Arin sucked in a deep breath, squirming a little as he felt something wet begin to press against his relaxed orifice.   _Damn_ how he wanted it and his dick twitched at the very idea that Dan was slowly penetrating his body.  The “scrub brushes” of Dan’s body gently exfoliated his erection, teasing him into leaking frustratingly quick.  They stroked up and down his length so slowly Arin tried to buck his hips to make the process faster.  “ _Danny_ ,” Arin moaned, a pathetic note in his voice.  
             “Yes, Arin, are you okay?”  
             “I’m okay, I-- _mmmng, ah_!--are you enjoying this too?”  
             “Of course, I am.”  Oh, Arin was always so sweet and concerned.  
             “Okay, good, because…  I don’t know if I’m going to last long like this, really.” He self-consciously chuckled.  “I didn’t know I was _this_ kinky.”  
             “I think you might have said something like that awhile ago.” Dan chuckled along with him, squeezing Arin in his full-body hug.  “Your frustration is cute, really.” He went on, feeling bolder from Arin’s evident enjoyment of their “congress.”  
             “Feeling all superior right now, aren’t you?”  
             “Isn’t…  Is-Isn’t that the point of this kind of play?”  Had all of his research on the internet and experiences with others been completely wrong?  
             “Yes, it is, dummy.” Arin laughed, his toes curling a little as he felt his butt relax all the more without his knowledge, allowing Dan to slip slightly inside him.  “ **Fuck** , If I had known you could do this to me, damn.” He couldn’t even finish a coherent thought, dropping his head back, his chest heaving.  
             Dan giggled, “If you’re good I’ll actually _let_ you come.”  
             “I’ll be good!” Arin immediately affirmed, feeling the grip around his dick and balls tighten minutely.  
             “Happy to hear it!  Now hold still while I finish cleaning you.”  
             Arin whimpered, moaning loudly as the hot, slick tendril that had been teasing his behind finally slid farther inside.  His whole body shuddered, sweat beading on his forehead at all the sensations he was feeling.  His skin--especially his nipples--tingled, his dick was getting a brush-job basically and his rear, oh, fuck, fuck, holy balls, what even.  He tried to squirm every which way to get what he wanted, but he was having trouble prioritizing if he wanted his dick sucked more of his butt pounded to a pulp--why were these kinds of decisions so hard?!  
             “Hey!  Hey!  I said only _good_ boys get to come, so how about you calm your shit down right now?”  
             Arin slumped with a whine, pouting as Dan made all the decisions for him.  Turns out, Arin got _both_ things that he wanted!  This, naturally, lead to Arin throwing his head back in a loud groan, a frustrated yell of sorts tearing from his throat as he felt his orgasm fast approaching.  He was almost there!  Almost and--Oh hell.  Arin wasn’t really sure what was happening anymore as the first wave of his orgasm rolled over him, he felt… Out of himself… Out of his body, as if he was…  Someone else?  With someone else?   _Inside_ someone else?  It was unlike any orgasm he’d ever remembered having before and still it was…  This wasn’t his first time feeling this, no, he remembered, he remembered _so many_ like this now.  The comfortable embrace of another presence that loved him, that shared in his pleasure--Dan, he remembered Dan.  His whole sweating, but still squeaky clean body shuddered again with another wave of pleasure as he relished this togetherness… This… “Oneness,” or “Fulfillment” with his partner.   _Holy_ ** _fuck_**.  
             “That was the best thing I’ve ever felt.  The rest of life is meaningless.” Arin muttered in a swift spray of syllables as soon as he came out of his fugue.  
             Dan laughed, hugging Arin tightly, “Sure, yep, it was pretty damn amazing.” The alien agreed, nuzzling into the back of Arin’s neck as the cuddly sensation of afterglow set in.  This was certainly not how he had envisioned today to go after earlier, but damn, if it wasn’t a nice surprise.  
             “So, I was a good boy?” Arin asked, a smile on his beet-red face, feeling like jelly in Dan’s arms.  
             “The best.” Dan assured him, giving him a short kiss on the cheek, “I’ve missed that…  And this, of course.”  He moved to put Arin down on the large couch, climbing over top of him, blanketing him to keep him warm afterwards.  
             “Dan…”  Arin found the edge of Dan’s anatomy, running his finger along it.  This was…  So _weird_ , but it was Dan, he knew it was Dan, why could he still not wrap his head around the fact that Dan wasn’t human?  Humans couldn’t do _any_ of the things that Dan had just done and yet, a part of Arin still futilely clung to the possibility that Dan was a normal, everyday Terran.  Seeing might have been believing, but he couldn’t deny everything that had happened the last week that all pointed to the obvious.  
             “What?”  
             “Why can’t I remember what you look like?  If…  I remember _so much_ of… Of sex with you…  All the feelings of Oneness…  Why can’t I remember you?”  He sifted through some of the memories he had newly gleaned.  He remembered Dan’s beautiful face, grinning up at him the morning they had come back from their jaunt up into space--sex hadn’t been so great that time, but whatever!--he remembered sudden shower sex and Dan pushing him around the kitchen of his old apartment, both of them giggling…  Then there was also that he had no recollections of Lyrdaanaavydaa.  One thing at a time, Dan first, “Unless…  You kind of look like a silly putty version of your normal self?”  
             Dan caught glimpses of Arin’s trip down memory road, noting how most of the instances that Arin remembered, he was in human form, “You wouldn’t recognize me as I really look.  That’s been consistently a problem.  You never think I’m me when you talk to me.”  
             “Really?  That’s horrible… I’m sorry, I don’t even know I’m doing it.”  Arin stroked a small expanse of Dan’s body near his hand.  “That’s so weird… Why is that happening?”  
             “I’m hoping the exam will help us find out.” Dan sadly concluded, stroking Arin’s face with a scrubbing tentacle to clean it at last.  “Because I don’t have an answer for you.”  
             “Will Lyrdaanaavydaa be doing the exam?”  
             “Yes.”  
             “Will you at least be there?”  
             “You won’t be able to see me.” Dan tried to explain, shaking his head, “You shouldn’t fight Lyrdaanaavydaa anyway.  They don’t want to hurt you, they would never dream of it.”  
             “I don’t think I believe that.” Arin sighed distrustfully, “I’m pretty sure they--”  
             “No, they didn’t rape you, Arin.  There’s a voice recording on the ship to prove it if my words aren’t good enough.” Dan cut him off irately.  
             “There’s a…  What?”  
             “Lyrdaanaavydaa made a voice recording of the whole…  Session.  For sentimental purposes.” Dan explained, he had listened to it a few times since that day.  Eidetic memories were all well and good, but Dan only ever got to completely visit those times in his stasis, and then, he was also consolidating other memories as well.  He couldn’t dwell on them as much as he wanted to; physical reminders were, he supposed, occasionally superior to memories.  
             “Were you…   _There_ for it?” Arin posed, curious.  
             “Of course I was.”  Dan gave Arin a short kiss on his temple.  
             “ _Oh_ …”  Arin fell silent after that, curling up tighter beneath Dan.  “Of… Course.”  
             “I have to go soon, you have to get to the exam in the cockpit too.”  
             “Stay a little longer…” Arin quietly pleaded, evidently more upset than Dan had considered before.  
             “Okay.  Just a little longer.”  Dan wrapped himself more firmly around Arin, snuggling in with him.  
  
             “Were we in a threesome?”  Arin asked, sitting on his exam table, a blanket around his shoulders.  
             “What?”  Lyrdaanaavydaa paused as they brought a pillow over for Arin.  They turned a confusing shade of blue, speckles of pink floating around upon it.  
             “You, Dan and me…”  
             “What makes you think that?”  They stepped closer, handing the pillow off to Arin.  They watched for a second as the man laid down on the metal table, trying to get comfortable.  
             “I was with Dan downstairs, earlier.  He cleaned me.” Arin motioned to his perfectly exfoliated and squeaky-clean self.  “He said you…  Loved me the same as him…  And he was around for whatever that _thing_ was that I remembered.  Zilbyrghr are supposed to take at least two Bondeds too, usually.”  
             While they were impressed, Lyrdaanaavydaa still questioned this block in Arin’s mind.  It made no sense to them!  Arin remembered _so much_ but his name and face associations were still screwed up…  Dan had heard of this condition in humans before, but, ordinarily, this rare condition only occurred after traumatic events like car accidents that caused brain damage, “We will say that for now, because it’s not completely incorrect.”  
             “I don’t like that answer…”  
             “Well, shut it, deal with it, and get comfy, I have spelunking to do.” Lyrdaanaavydaa stepped around to the head of the table, standing above Arin, leaning over his head, “I’ve done this many, many times before with you, this doesn’t hurt and it’s--possibly--even pleasant.”  
             “You’re getting inside my head.” Arin swallowed.  
             “Yes.” They nodded, “I want to see if more manuel facilitation will work better than what we have been doing.  If it _ever_ hurts, please tell me.”  
             “Can I just push you off?”  
             “If you can, yes.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa put two hands on either side of Arin’s head, “This won’t take too long.”  
  
_“This is weird…”  Arin thought._ _  
__“For you, maybe.”  Dan reminded, searching about._ _  
__“Whoa…”_ _  
__“Didn’t expect to be conscious for it, or something?”_ _  
__“I didn’t know what to expect.  This is…  Will I, like, relive my memories?”_ _  
__“If I find what I’m looking for, sure.”_ _  
__“Why didn’t we do this from the beginning?”_ _  
__“Please_ ** _tell_** _me that you would’ve been okay with me fisting your brain first day you were on the ship…”_ _  
__“That’s some imagery right there…”  As this was the mental realm, Arin couldn’t exactly hide his following thought, “Are braingasms a thing?”  It took him only half a second to realize his internal guest had heard that, “I mean, uh…”_ _  
__“Don’t worry about it, I’ve heard worse from you.”  Dan passed him off, the last thing he needed was Arin stressing over his own thoughts and feelings._ _  
__“If you can hear everything I think, can I hear everything you think?”_ _  
__“If I walk into your house and look around, does that mean that you’re also at my house looking around?”_ _  
__“So, no…”_ _  
__“I could if I really wanted to, but it might make your brain explode.” Dan continued to hunt, eventually touching up against a solid wall.  If this wall were a physically existing thing, he would probably say it was quite worn and flaking.  Maybe it was cracked in some areas, but it was difficult to locate just where the cracks or flakes were._ _  
__“Calling me stupid?”_ _  
__“No, I’m saying I have so much information stored in my body it would probably hurt you.”_ _  
__“So, you’re just saying I’m simple, then…” Arin started to get irritated._ _  
__“No…  Arin, look, the last time I shared memories with you, I left a piece of myself behind inside of you and…”  Dan would’ve gaped his mouth if he had one, “Oh my god.”_ _  
__“I hope that was a good ‘oh my god’...”  Arin would’ve swallowed nervously if he had been conscious of anything outside of his interaction with the alien._ _  
__“Yes, I think I might know a way around some of your issue.  If it doesn’t fix it, it will at least help with it.”_ _  
__“What are you going to do…?”_ _  
__“There is a piece of me inside of you, Arin.  I shared some of my cellular memories with you in the past.  They should still be here somewhere…  I just need to find out where they are.”_ _  
__“Are you in my DNA or something?” Arin sounded the slightest bit panicked._ _  
__“No, not quite…  I shared it with you while you were asleep, so I assume the memories got consolidated and stored then and there--”_ _  
__“That doesn’t answer my question!”_ _  
__“No, I’m not in your DNA, there’s a piece of me attached, in theory, to your body.  I don’t know where or how to get to that piece of me; it has been affected by the suppression process, but not destroyed.  I had completely forgotten it was even there.”_ _  
__“What kind of memory was it?”_ _  
__“There were a couple.  Two I gave to you, one you remembered on your own.”_ _  
__“I can do that?”_ _  
__“Yep, I don’t understand it either and I’m not a medical doctor.  It’s a mystery for now.”  Dan “wriggled” around, so to speak, inside of Arin’s head, groping about for anything that was remotely similar to himself.  His consciousness, eventually, bumped into another wall, this one was noticeably thinner, however.  It flaked with pressure and Dan blundered his way through the barrier._ _  
__  
__“Hurry up!”  Dan, who was Arin in this memory, complained._ _  
__“I’ll take as much time as I want.”  Dan who was the Dan of Arin’s past memory answered with a sly tone of voice.  Needless to say this was very_ ** _unsettling_** _for Dan to be remembering himself through Arin’s eyes.  Did his head really look like that?  Were his eyes really that small compared to his “forehead”?  Who on Vysvaa ever thought he was attractive?  Geez, he needed to pay better attention to his brightness when he was happy, he was practically blinding to Arin’s eyes!_ _  
__“Hhhng!” Dan, who was Arin, made a frustrated noise, grinding his erect penis down against the softness of past Dan’s body.  This was awkward to remember beyond belief as Dan shook Arin’s butt outward and ground it as hard as he could against the space where his fabricated penis normally was.  “Fuck me!  Please!”  Dan remembered when this was.  Arin’s sexual appetite had grown considerably--through Dan’s constant sexual needs--after Dan had began the bonding process.  Having sex for days solid and doing anything that Arin’s heart desired really had a positive effect on that._ _  
__“How big do you want it?”  Past Dan questioned, raising a tentacle and showing off the various shapes he could make with one as well as sizes._ _  
__“Can you just make it bigger over time?”  Dan-Arin had since taken up trying to fuck himself on the flat, jelly-like surface of Past Dan’s “abdomen.”  “I just_ ** _really_** _need it, man.”_ _  
__  
__“Whoa, okay!”  Arin interrupted the onslaught of sexual memories._ _  
__“I wasn’t expecting that and, frankly, I’m very weirded out now.”  Dan added._ _  
__“So, we had lots of sex…”  Arin concluded._ _  
__“Yes…”_ _  
__“And… I’m…  Bonded to you.”_ _  
__“That is correct…”_ _  
__“What about Dan?”_ _  
__“I am, Dan.” Dan figured that it was as least worth a shot._ _  
__“I know your nickname is Dan, but--”_ _  
__“Nevermind, that didn’t help.”  Dan moved on from that memory, the wall having successfully been breached.  Maybe there were more that he could tear down while he was in here.  Hopefully he wouldn’t find anything traumatic…  But there was no way of knowing what was what.  This was going to take quite awhile._ _  
__  
__“When you’re in someone’s memories, interacting with them…  How does it feel?” Arin questioned, “Is it like…  Taking on their persona?  Standing by and watching?  Talking to me?”_ _  
__“If I relive their memory, as you experienced, it’s like I’m you experiencing it.  I’m myself and you at the same time.  You’ve done it through my memories before, but I can’t…  Find what I’m looking for.”  Dan elaborated, still sifting around._ _  
__“But do you see any kind of representation of me when you’re interacting with me like now?”_ _  
__“A form of you, yes.  Why?”  Dan informed, “It’s a mental projection of how I see you.”  It was similar to sitting in a dark room, only barely making out the outline of a person.  The trouble was, with humans, ideas of a unified self, a true_ ** _authentic_** _being wasn’t necessarily something they possessed.  Dan had slowly come to realize and accept the nebulous, ever_ ** _in-process_** _state of the human experience and being.  It made him question his own people’s version of consciousness and being compared to a human point of view.  Neither was better or worse, it was merely different modes of existing, what was the purpose of a universe so endlessly teeming with life if all versions of consciousness and life were the same?_ _  
__“So I’m not hallucinating?”_ _  
__“Do you see something?” Dan asked to soothe Arin’s nerves._ _  
__“I was hoping you could tell me, because you’re, as you said, in my house looking around.”_ _  
__“I can’t pay attention to everything at once.”  Dan humorously reminded him, “I’m not perfect as likely as that seems.  Humor me, what do you see?”_ _  
__“It’s dark and, um…  And I see this, you, since I think it’s talking to me.”_ _  
__“Well, you should know if it’s me or not, so, is it?”_ _  
__“Yes, it’s you.”  Arin then moved along, “I can’t make out your face.  You’re…  Sparkling?  Red and blue and…  You’re really skinny, but you have legs and…  That’s why I’m confused.”_ _  
__“Ah…”  Truth be told, it surprised Dan, on some level was Arin…  Unconsciously aware that he was who he was?  Ugh, that was a confusing and a headache.  “You probably see me as human because it’s your usual definition of an intelligent being.”_ _  
__“You look really…”_ _  
__“Colorful?  Stupid?”  Danny laughed, not really a laugh, but an mental approximation of a laugh._ _  
__“Otherworldly.”_ _  
__“Ah.” Danny smiled to himself, another mental approximation thereof, “I guess I should be flattered that your mind thinks so highly of me.”_ _  
__“Does this mean anything good?”_ _  
__“We’ll just have to see what you remember.  Sit tight, I’m trying to find another memory.”_ _  
__  
_  By the end of the session, Arin remembered a great deal of things.  Things like where his dad’s lawn gnome had gone, how Brian had a fascination of watching them have sex in the beginning, how Dan’s first attempt at cooking by himself went (newsflash: horribly), and Lyrdaanaavydaa introducing theirself.  Arin sort of remembered waking up on the exam bed in space and struggling to throw his arms around Lyrdaanaavydaa in a hug, but that was all fuzzy.  The things that Arin came out of the session completely sure of were very few.  In fact, there were only two.  The first was that he owed Lyrdaanaavydaa an apology, and the second was that he still didn’t know dick about what happened above Taeotquin.  
             “What are we going to do?” Arin asked, running his fingers over his beard.  
             “I don’t know…  We can try again later if that’s okay…” Lyrdaanaavydaa suggested.  
              “You couldn’t find that memory of you inside me somewhere?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa shook their head, “It’s there, but it’s buried, like the rest of this stuff.  I’m hoping that some sleep will give your mind time to make some connections and adjustments…  It really is our only hope here.”  
              “Can’t I just say that I don’t remember?  Why isn’t that an option?”  
              “They will have me or some other telepath root through your head to find the answer, most likely.  They need the information at all costs.  I can’t tell them that I erased it or suppressed the memories because it’s destruction of evidence.  Which, as you can imagine, is a crime.”  
             “That’s not fair.” Arin swallowed at the prospect of someone potentially less gentle than Lyrdaanaavydaa getting inside his mind.  He also feared the worst as far as punishments for “destruction of evidence.”  “What will they do to you?”  
             “A few cycles on some asteroid prison or longer.”  
             “What about Dan?  Or Brian?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa let out a human sigh and gripped at their “face,” “Arin, I need to you to start thinking of Dan and I as the same person.”  
             “Why would I do that?”  
             “Because it’s the truth!”  
             Arin’s face went blank for a second, “Excuse me, what?”  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa threw their hands up into the air with a frustrated curse in their mother tongue, making Arin take a step back.  
             “What did I do?”  
             “Nothing!”  Lyrdaanaavydaa twisted all their cranial palpators up into knots, “I want to _help_ you and every time I try you don’t remember anything!”  
             “I’m sorry I’m not perfect.” Arin snidely spat back.  
             “This isn’t about you!  This is…”  Another frustrated curse and Lyrdaanaavydaa continued, “This is a problem I created, you’re just very affected by it.”  
              “You didn’t answer my question about you and Dan.”  
              Lyrdaanaavydaa paused, “What question?”  
             “Why I should think of you as the same person.”  
             “Ah…  You remembered…?”  Lyrdaanaavydaa supposed it was _some_ kind of progress, “Can you try that?”  
             “But why?  You’re very different people.”  
_Am I so different in human form?_  Lyrdaanaavydaa internally wondered as Arin stared at him like the answer should’ve been obvious, “I don’t think so.”  
             “Well, I do.”  
             “It’s important to me that you try.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa then added, “While I still have time with you…  I don’t know how the hearing is going to go and if I get charged with destruction of evidence then it’ll be a long time before you’ll be able to see me or Dan again.”  
             “I don’t understand…”  Arin blinked, “Is it an alien thing?”  
             “Yeah, you could say that.”  
             Arin continued to curiously observe the much taller alien, trying to find connections in his mind, but just whenever he thought he was grasping at something with the tips of his fingers, it eluded him.  There was an undeniable connection between the two, but that was probably because of the relationship Lyrdaanaavydaa and Dan shared…  As well as himself.  
             “I can try…  For now, for the hearing, what should we do?”  
             “Being honest?  I don’t know.”  
             Arin had never expected such a simple admission to ever be so terrifying before, but the mystery of not knowing was twice as sinister as the devil you knew.


	8. Movement III:  You're A Shining Star No Matter Who You Are

             “The  _ tatamean _ is here for us.”  Dan whispered through the darkness into Arin’s ear.  “Brian has already given his account and is establishing contact with the court.”  He felt Arin curl more tightly in the blankets.  “You and I must go.”   
             “I don’t remember anything about this…”  Arin uselessly mumbled into the color-splattered quilt he couldn’t see.  “What should I say?”  Turning over, he tried to hide himself in Dan’s gelatinous body.   
             “We have to tell as close to the truth as we can.”   
             “Where is Lyrdaanaavydaa?”   
             “Remember what I asked?”   
             “Mmmng…  You’re going to tell me they’re in the room with us.”   
             “Yes and they’re ready to leave whenever you are.” Dan touched the crest of Arin’s ear beneath the mop of his messy hair.  He felt Arin shiver underneath the ministration and would’ve smiled fondly to himself if such an action wouldn’t have illuminated the room.  Or, well, he was also wearing his  _ Ryvyysl _ , the inhibiting polymer beads ambassadors wore inside their bodies.   
             “But are you coming with us?  I’d like to see you both together if you’re both…  You know.”   
             Dan sighed, still petting Arin’s hair, eventually pushing a lock behind his ear, “We can’t.  We’re the same person.”   
             “What?”   
             “What to which part?”   
            “I mean what did you say?  I zoned out.”   
            Aggravation flared up inside Dan, it was too early to be this irritated by something he should’ve come to expect, “You’re having that problem again.”   
             “Forgetting stuff you say?”   
             “Yeah.”   
             “Dan, what’s wrong with me?”   
             “It’s my fault.  Don’t worry, I’ll fix it.”  Dan promised, “I feel like the biggest asshole.”   
             “You had your reasons…  There wasn’t much of an alternative.”   
             Silence fell between them, Arin cradled in Dan’s arms and the anonymous dark.  However, as Dan was, he was determined to explain his earlier train of thought.   
             “Arin, myself and Lyrdaanaavydaa…”   
             “Yes?”   
             “Think of it like…  You wouldn’t be able to see both of us at the same time.  Since I asked you to think of us as the same person.”   
             “But…  You have separate bodies?”   
              Could this…  Roundabout discussion really fix the problem?  Dan had to try, “No, we don’t.”   
              “You’re…  Split personalities?” And Arin’s mind was  _ blown _ .   
             “Not… Quite....  If it helps you understand better though, yes.”   
             “Whoa…  Dude, that’s…”  Arin fumbled for a few seconds, he wasn’t sure if he should be excited, humiliated that Dan had seen all of his emotional outbursts, or if he just should apologize even more than before.  Of all the diplomatic things he could’ve answered with, what came out of his mouth was “Which of you is the original personality?”   
             Dan supposed he understood the question, but…  It wholly unfair.  He couldn’t lie, “Lyrdaanaavydaa…”   
             “Oh…”  Arin swallowed, “Does that mean…?”   
             “It means nothing important.” He reassured, especially because this was still a  _ huge _ twisting of the truth.   
             “Dan, Arin, get up.”  Brian’s voice broke through from the direction of where the door was, “The  _ tatamean _ is waiting.” Brian then sighed, “I don’t think it even noticed that I’ve stopped responding to it.”   
             “Briaaaaaaan!”  Arin grumbled, finally sitting up.   
             “Stop complaining before I come over there and give Dan a blowie.”  Brian licked his lips, even though Arin couldn’t really see it.   
             “Ew, Brian, no.”   
             “I feel like I’m in one of your badly-written fanfictions, Bri.” Arin added with a laugh.   
             “ _ The Beej:  Part Two of Eight: Insexrection. _ ”  Brian declared in his usual matter-of-fact-tone.   
             “I hate you.” Dan informed in a flat tone through the volley of laughter.   
  
_ “Find anything?” _ __   
_              “Does it feel like I’ve found anything, Arin?” _ __   
_              “Forget I asked.” _ __   
__ Lyrdaanaavydaa drew themself out of Arin’s consciousness, jostling him on the dining table grown out of the kitchen’s floor tiles.  Accordingly, Arin took a deep breath and reached to rub his face as he woke up.  He cursed under his breath, Lyrdaanaavydaa detecting the disappointed note in it.  Once more, they would’ve smiled if they had a mouth.   
             “It’s not your fault.” Lyrdaanaavydaa reassured, passing Arin a protein bar.  It was a poor surrogate for a real breakfast, but good enough.  Meanwhile, as Arin took the bar, he shuffled off the table and about the kitchen.  Lyrdaanaavydaa watched him fondly, Arin gripping his breakfast in his hands like it was his last lifeline.   
             “Dude,” Arin peeled open the food, taking a bite, his next words slightly garbled by the chewy goodness, “what time is it?”   
             “You got about four hours of sleep.  One cycle on Lodora is a few hours shorter than Earth’s.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa lifted a protein bar to their face, taking a bite and chewing out of habit--lack of teeth and tongue and all.  For the same reason, they breathed in and out even when it was a purely human aesthetic, out of place on a non-human frame.  So was smiling as he watched Arin grumble under his breath at the new information.  They didn’t have a mouth, however, so Lyrdaanaavydaa gave up quickly.   
             Arin wondered aloud as he ate, “What should I tell the  _ tatamean _ ?”   
             “You said that our session was unhelpful, yes?” Lyrdaanaavydaa took a “bite” of the protien bar instead of absorbing it casually into a tentacle once more.  “What do you remember of the incident?”   
              “Mmm…  I remember the planet…  And…” Arin thought hard, trying to rummage through surrounding memories and make sense of the event chain.  The chain, needless to say, had a few missing links.  So much precious, crucial, stolen time just out of reach like the ebbing and flowing of waves on a beach.  Turning his face to regard the tall, inky alien with all their twinkling star beads or whatever inside them, something popped into place, “There were ships that fled the planet…  I…  you…” He licked his lips and nodded, “You, yes, were upset about being there.”   
             Lyrdaanaavydaa went stiff at the news.  He nodded along with Arin’s thoughts.  Slowly, hope swelled within them, tri-fingered hands clenching into excited fists.  This human gesture looked more than a little odd with the boneless appendage, but the feeling was what counted.  They habitually tried to bite a lip they did not have as they urged Arin to go further with his memories.   
             “It’s just a…  A kind of general overview.  I can’t think of the ships really.  I just…  Know that’s what happened.”  Arin shifted uneasily, seeing all the odd twitches play out over Lyrdaanaavydaa’s body.  “I’m guessing the ships are what you and Dan and Brian didn’t see…  Right?”   
             “You remember something at all, Arin.”  Though still couldn’t seem to remember that Lyrdaanaavydaa was Dan and that there was really no separation at all between them, but whatever.  “It’s better than nothing dude.” They cheered, feeling instantly better about the situation.  They were far from done, however, they weren’t even in the woods yet of legal business.  They were still on the other side of “over the river” being honest.  Many judicial systems on Earth might have been unfair and complicated, but the Cluster’s judicial system made Earth’s laws and regulations read like a single page rather than a whole book.   
             Arin grunted with some kind of affirmation, “At least I have something to say.”  He tried to self-soothe, but it didn’t change the overall feeling of contained dread.  If Arin was  _ somehow _ caught lying, the consequences would be served to Lyrdaanaavydaa.  Or Dan…  Were they really just two personalities sharing a body?  That seemed…  “Lyrda, can…  Can I speak with Dan?”   
             The utterance of the pet name only increased Lyrdaanaavydaa’s wish to properly emote, but that urge died quickly as they realized what Arin was asking for, “Arin…  I  _ am _ him.”   
             “Not what Dan said this morning.”   
             Lyrdaanaavydaa released a very human sigh of exasperation, going so far as to open up a pocket on their face to simulate a mouth, “I cannot switch to him with you watching.”   
             “Why not?” Arin pushed, a twinkle of suspicion showing in his eyes.   
             “Because the last time I did, you passed out for hours.”   
             “Whoa…”   
             “Yeah, I need to work on fixing your head.”  The two both nodded, neither wishing to pursue the conversation further.  Bryrrna broke the silence with a lowing call so deep it made Arin’s ribs vibrate along with the walls of the network of flesh tunnels.  “Brian says that the Ottoveirt noticed his lack of attention.  We need to go.”   
             Arin started after Lyrdaanaavydaa as the tall alien exited the kitchen for darkness of the tunnels.  At least Arin could still make out the twinkling stars inside them, “You understood that?  Or was that more mind talk?”  He stepped closer to them, taking a hold on the gentle curve they had for an elbow.  The solid-yet-still-somehow-gelatinous tentacle pulled him closer against its owner.  Arin nearly pulled away, but resisted, they needed to keep things civil today.   
             “I cannot speak the native language of any ydyrn, but I do understand most dialects.  They, in turn, understand most Zilbyrgh dialects and integument signals.  They speak our language with great proficiency, but the largest of their kind can find our words in the higher registers to be difficult.”   
             “Why don’t you all just speak the same language…  Didn’t you guys, like, evolve with each other?”   
             “Yes, but, understand, once we were capable of building our own cities and no-longer needed to live inside the ydyrn, we more or less split off from each other.  Those of us that still live inside the ydyrn in places like…”  Lyrdaanaavydaa took a second to translate province names, “Crystal Open Waters, Great Trench and Frozen Surfaces--to name a few--do have their own unique dialects.  We somewhat think of them the ways your culture regards traditional tribes in African countries.”   
             “You see, when you talk like that, that’s why I have a hard time believing you and Dan are actually the same person…  You’re all like, info-vomit and stuff.”   
             “Well I can also talk like this, doofus.  Just because I know some shit doesn’t mean I still can’t go on for hours about puss and horrible video games.”   
              Arin laughed, leaning more against Lyrdaanaavydaa as they walked.  For those few precious moments, things didn’t seem so bad between them as they had been.   
  
             Lyrdaanaavydaa preferred to believe that they were on the beach of an alien world.  Specifically the world of Klesum.  What majesties the could show Arin there…  The  _ woahnim _ skating through the sunset above rippling, green waters.  Their four wings buzzing before slicing through the air in silver ribbons.  Lyrdaanaavydaa thought of holding Arin there and counting the moons as they climbed above the horizon.  They could tell Arin the love the ancient peoples of Klesum had for each moon; traditional tribes of aboriginals used to believe they could tell the future by which moon rose first and how they appeared in relation to each other in the sky…   
             It was a sweet fantasy that would’ve made Lyrdaanaavydaa’s teeth rot.  Well, if they  _ had _ teeth.  Sometimes Lyrdaanaavydaa…   _ Dan _ forgot that they didn’t actually possess many things humans did.  They were about the pursue a line of thought to the tune of “can I still even relate to my own people anymore?” but found himself cut off by a high screech.   
             Lyrdaanaavydaa drew themself out of their imaginings to figure out that the screech was from Arin.  The tall, squishy human stood ramrod straight, hands firmly at his pink Hello Kitty sides.  The rest of the cluster of offices around the Ottoveirt’s were quiet, but somewhere, outside and down a few streets, the voices of dozens of species hummed as the representatives from two different galaxies conversed.   
             “What is it doing?!” Arin shouted with extreme discomfort as the glowing, floating Ottoveirt whizzed about his head, squeaking.   
             “Saying hello.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa explained with adoring humor.  “It has never met an inhabitant of Earth before…  Well, almost no one out here has, obviously.”   
             “Aaaah, how do I say ‘hi’ back?” Arin still kept himself firmly scrunched.  Lyrdaanaavydaa could say this was probably because his eyes could never hope to follow the energetic  _ tatamean _ around, and so the chances of him slapping the creature out of the air with a mere flick of a wrist was totally possible.   
             “I’ll translate, just give your usual greeting.”   
             “O-Okay.” Arin smiled, nervous, teeth almost chattering, and raised his hand very slowly, “Hey, what’s up?” The human watched his gelatinous friend begin to chatter on in the same language he heard in the Ottoveirt’s office.  He noticed the Ottoveirt pause in its whipping motions when Lyrdaanaavydaa spoke, responding in what Arin could approximate as the same language, but warped by being two times faster and eight times higher.   
             “It says ‘respond in the best way possible’...”  Both Arin and Lyrdaanaavydaa remained silent for a moment, just staring at each other.  This moment carried everything that was unsaid about how much they wanted to laugh at this, but it was not possible.   
             “And this guy is an official?”   
             “Yeah… Not really a diplomat though.”   
             “Well, what next?”   
             “Hell if I know.  I’ve not been in one of these hellish court proceedings before.”   
             “You fuckin’, like, knew we had to talk to the tata-thing!” Arin gesticulated, freer to do so now that the navi-ish being had stopped flying around everywhere. “And you’re, like, spacy know-it-all dude!”   
             “There are somethings I only know because of broadcast transmissions.  Sort of like all the people on Earth that only know of court proceedings because they watch  _ Judge Judy, _ or  _ Law and Order _ .”   
             “Whoa, you guys have TV?”   
             “Not really, more like suspended holograms made up of vibrating algae.”   
             “That’s a little beyond me, but it’s still really cool.”   
             The two were interrupted by another high screech, this time, coming from the Ottoveirt.  Lyrdaanaavydaa was the first to recover from the ear-piercing shriek.  Quickly, they apologized for their rudeness as Arin stood by and rubbed his ears.   
             “Okay, Arin…  It’s time for you to give your account.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa held out a fine tentacle to the Ottoveirt, speaking softly to it.  After some explanation, the small being rested on their outstretched limb.   
             “Do I need to take your hand?” Arin wondered, raising a hand to reach it towards the other alien.   
             “No, I am merely acting as a translator.  The same thing I did with you.”   
             “Yeah, okay, cool…  So, now what?”   
             Lyrdaanaavydaa turned their attention to their  _ tatamean _ , voice still low and calm.  Eventually, they answered Arin’s question, “You just need to speak slowly and very clearly, they are taking note of your words.”   
             Arin squinted over at the glowing dandelion fluff, trying to make out anything past just the light radiating from its being, “Does it have a tiny pencil in there somewhere?”   
             “Arin, our  _ tatamean _ understands everything you’re saying right now.” Lyrdaanaavydaa warned.   
             “It’s an honest question, I just wanted to know if it was just going to go off memory or--”   
             “Yes, it has a way of recording your speech, Arin…  We need to get a move on, the main councill hall is quite a walk away.”   
             At the somewhat terse reminder, Arin cleared his voice, “Fine, okay, um…  I guess I should start with…”   
              “Try our arrival above Taeotquin.”   
              Arin nodded and took that as an adequate launchpoint, beginning to detail the happenings as closely as he believed to be true.   
  
              Arin set foot out of the office as Lyrdaanaavydaa explained they just had a few more things to work out with the Ottoveirt.  He found himself wishing that he understood more of what was going on, but also recognized that that was going to be an impossible endeavor.  Humans had yet to venture beyond their own planet and had their heads so far up their asses that they still fought with each other over petty things.  Inside, he had always known this, but seeing all this wonder and power so far out in space, it only solidified his beliefs that Earth’s many petty problems would be set aside the day aliens chose to invade.   
_ What’s going on at home?  America couldn’t possibly have covered all that up… _  It didn’t seem possible anyway, how were they going to explain all that?  People surely would’ve seen Brian taking off out of the bay.  It wasn’t every day you saw a giant, whale-like being skyrocket out of the ocean into orbit, only to be followed by the ships that had arrived only hours before, if that.  Was world peace happening?  Or were things carrying on the same as usual?   
             “Aer, we have to go.”   
             Arin jumped as he felt Lyrdaanaavydaa’s tentacle rest on his shoulder.   
             “Didn’t mean to scare you.” The formal envoy apologized, inky body not betraying an ounce of emotion.   
             “I’m just wondering what’s going on at home.”  Arin chose to honestly explain.   
             “I couldn’t tell you.  I can’t imagine it’s anything good.”   
             “You see, that’s why I don’t believe you and Dan are the same person.  Dan’s an eternal optimist!” Arin poked the jelly body in front of him.   
             Lyrdaanaavydaa chose to say nothing, merely giving the small of Arin’s back a gentle push.  The two followed behind the floating Ottoveirt out of the office buildings, setting off down the street.   
             On the initial trek from the docking bay to the office, not many people were awake, still taking rest intervals.  A few species had been active, but, as Lyrdaanaavydaa had explained, they were from what Arin would call “nocturnal” cultures.  Now, about an hour past that time, a few more species were up and moving around.  Arin recognized clusters of kriranrk milling about, some Solgirians leaning into each other as they walked, and another flock of those floating, balloon-like aliens.  Before long, Arin’s nose detected the scents of food wafting into the air, perhaps many species were like humans and needed something to jumpstart their metabolisms in the morning.  While he knew the foods would hardly be like anything from Earth, he still eagerly kept an eye out for aliens taking their own form of breakfast.   
             Turning a corner with the guiding arm of Lyrdaanaavydaa, Arin’s eyes were greeted with the very sight he was hoping for.  The whole  _ street _ was lined with tables, cup-like chairs or resting benches for beings to take their morning meals in.  The dull roar of conversations in several languages fascinated Arin as everyone went about their own business.  Earth would have a very  _ different _ view of aliens if they had the chance to witness all of this enmass.  They were hardly different from Earth at all--or perhaps they actually were and he was just seeing things through his rather narrow lens.   
             Reaching the end of the lively cranny between buildings, Arin looked to the street corner to a set of tables.  In the wall of the building was a counter, a beige-skinned, humanoid person going about the morning setup.  Arin was not sure why his eye was drawn to this particular one as there was almost nothing interesting about it.  It looked very similar to a cafe one would see on Earth, just instead of humans working it, an alien whose species name he had not yet learned manned the shop.  Nearly dismissing the shop as nothing of interest, Arin went to check back with Lyrdaanaavydaa for an estimate of how much time they had until they arrived at the councill hall, but his words died on his lips.  Sitting at a table, sipping from what looked to be a teacup, was another human.   
             The human had long, brown hair, appeared to be of very short stature and was  _ staring _ at him over the rim of the fine, white teacup with stark, blue eyes.  Lowering the teacup to its saucer sitting on the table, Arin saw the slightest of smirks curling his lips and that smirk looked mighty familiar.  Arin, trying not to blither over at Lyrdaanaavydaa, lifted a hand to wave at him before they went to disappear behind another corner.  In response, the smirking person raised his hand to give him a polite “hello” wave back, but Arin didn’t have time to do anything else once the building obstructed his vision.   
              “Dude!  Dude!” Arin tugged on the “sleeve” of Lyrdaanaavydaa’s envoy uniform.   
             “What?” The tall alien must’ve been lost in their own thoughts as they turned their head to look down at him.   
             “I thought I was the only human here.”   
             “You are…  Or you should be.  Humans aren’t allowed to leave Earth, much less come here.”   
             “You didn’t… See him?”   
             “See who?”   
             “That guy back there!  Sipping a cup of tea, or something!  Pinky extended and everything like he was one posh motherfucker.”   
             Lyrdaanaavydaa looked puzzled, or Arin assumed they did by the way they tipped their head to one side, glass beads rattling, “I saw no one…  Perhaps you saw a Lodorian?  They look human enough.”   
             “No, man, he like… He had long hair, and a thin mustache, and he was short, and blue eyes and--”   
             “Arin, you’re probably tired.”   
             “No!  I really saw someone!  This isn’t like the Mark Zuckerberg thing!  I swear!”   
             “Arin, you’re scaring me.”   
             “I’m  _ serious _ !  I… I saw another human!”   
             Lyrdaanaavydaa let out a human sigh, “As I have been a scientist for too long to say that it’s  _ impossible _ , I’m still going to stand behind that it was  _ highly _ unlikely that you saw another human here.”   
             “Don’t people get abducted all the time?”   
             “Those are just urban legends.  What reason would aliens have to abduct humans?”   
             “Didn’t… You abduct me in the beginning?  Like…  A lot?”    
             Lyrdaanaavydaa would’ve blushed lavendar if they had been able to, “That was a very specific circumstance.”   
             “You guys can’t be the only ones to have done it…”   
             “While that’s true, I can’t see why anyone would bring a human along with them here beyond strict business.  The way you’re making it seem was that he was just sitting there having a meal interval.”   
             “Why does that sound so preposterous?”   
             “Humans learn languages the old-fashioned way, how could one  _ possibly _ be fluent enough in this Cluster’s standard language to just casually be walking around?  How old did the human look?”   
             “I don’t know… Twenties?  Thirties, maybe?”   
             “Seems unlikely…”   
             “What about if he was abducted as a child?”   
             “I should hope that no person here would be so cruel as to steal a child from their parents…  Any race that walks freely here is peaceful, it is even recognized for the Gekur that live here…”   
             Arin pursed his lips, “Are…  Are there going to be any present at this hearing?”   
             “Probably not.”   
             “How is that fair?”   
              “Would you be able to look someone in the eye and tell them that their whole race isn’t worthy of living?”   
             “No...  But I would never make the decision.”   
             “It’s about to come down to your words though.  Are you ready?”  Arin hadn’t even realized that they had already come to the base of a gargantuan tower that stretched far above the rest of the surrounding buildings.  Looking up the huge column, Arin momentarily wondered if “skyscrapers” were more called “glass scrapers” on this floating bubble of life.   
              “I’ll never be ready.” Arin took a hold of one of Lyrdaanaavydaa’s limbs and squeezed.   
             “We very rarely get to choose the moments that will define us.”  They wrapped their tentacle around Arin’s hand and wrist.   
             “Yeah, that whole ‘greatness thrust upon you’ stuff they try to teach you in school.”   
             “Ready or not, it’s happening… The council is set to see us…”   
             Arin took a deep, steadying breath, staring down at the floor, “How can I do this?  Why is it  _ me _ that has to decide if so many live or die?”   
             “It’s just the way the chips fell.”   
             “Cookies should be less crumbly.”  The two shared a half second of mirthless laughter as the doors before them parted.  Both squeezing onto one another, they followed their  __ tatamean inside, unaware of the many restless footsteps behind them.


	9. Symphony 3: Movement I:  Our Hopes and Expectations, Black Holes and Revelations

             It was dark, a grinding hum filtered through from somewhere--from all _around_ \--and Arin’s head throbbed.  He moaned, opening his eyes in spite of the pain and his world shook beneath him.  Had he been standing instead of laying prone on what felt like a metal sidewalk grate, the jolt would have been enough to send him back to the floor with painful results.  The grinding noise was interrupted as there was another quake through the metal around him.  Arin heard the yells of a language he did not recognize and the pounding of footsteps.  
 _Where am I?_ Arin wondered inside, trying to roll himself to his hands and knees and get to his feet.  His first attempt shot a fiery pain up his left arm, causing him to cry out at the agony.  It didn’t feel like it was broken, it felt like it was _melting_.  A nauseating hum emanated from the base of his skull throughout his body; the pain receded to a dull, throbbing ache, leaving Arin gasping in relief on the floor as he felt the wetness from his eyes cool his cheeks.  He rested his face against the metal grating beneath him, the whole world violently jerked again and he squeezed his eyes shut.  He couldn’t stay here, wherever “here” was, he couldn’t remain here.  He had to get out somehow; he had to find Dan, he had to figure out what was going on.  
             Thankfully, the world remained solid long enough for him to stand, the room wasn’t entirely dark, an orange light fell through a grate in beams that hit his shins.  He did his best to ignore the pain in his arm that never fully went away, this wasn’t something he was used to, but none of this last week really was.  Pressing his face to the abrasive wall, he peered out one of the slat holes.  The hallway beyond looked deserted from his point of view, lit only by an eerie orange light.  The clacks of hard footsteps were not too far away, the echos reminded him of his first steps inside the council hall….  What had happened?  Where was he?  It was a question that he would need to answer later rather than sooner as fortune did not smile upon him right now.  
             “Hello?!”  Arin shouted through the hole, “Can anyone tell me where I am?!”  He heard the clicks of a language he didn’t know, the same one from earlier, and the footsteps grew louder in a hurry.  Arin didn’t know if he should be worried or relieved by this stranger’s urgency, but in no time at all, the door to his cell--as he could see it was now as the orange light from the hall filled the room--flung open.  Restraining a gasp, Arin looked up at the imposing figure of a Gekur, black horns ascending from its skull.  
             “Holy..  Fu…”  Arin was frozen in place as all of its black eyes locked onto him.  He was expecting to be picked up, or shoved, or maybe even killed, but instead, the gekur stepped out of the way, making a noise in the back of its throat.  “Uh, okay,”  Arin stepped out into the hallway and was nudged by a paw, his whole body cringing away from the hard carapace of the eight, capped digits.  His left arm stung and nausea bubbled up from pain in the back of his neck.  He stumbled, working to hold his stomach together while claws clacked on the metal floor behind him.  
             “Grrg?” The gekur spoke, making Arin cringe again, scrambling to right himself.  He pushed back everything that he was feeling and tried to focus on the situation at hand.  Where was he going?  Was the gekur going to kill him?  It seemed that if it was going to, it would’ve had no reason to not do it five seconds ago.  
         Taking the chance, Arin peered back over his shoulder at the monstrous being following him rather intently.  Unbidden, a thought came to mind _Big Red_ …  That was what it was called.  How did Arin know that? He didn’t rightly know, but, he _also_ knew in that strange, nebulous way, that it knew English.  
         “Where are we going?”  
         “Command.” Big Red spoke, the grinding mandibles having to work much harder than a human mouth to make the proper sounds.  While Arin didn’t like the sounds of that, he marched down the hallway as quickly, and stably as he could.  
         Whatever was causing the quakes throughout the ship must have been solved as the world seemed quiet suddenly.  Arin didn’t know what to expect when Big Red told him he was being taken to Command, but…  He still hadn’t expected it to be as bad as being marched into a room _full_ of other gekur!  
         “Shit…” Arin breathed under the hearing of captors, much to his surprise, however, Big Red was _not_ in charge.  Instead, a tall, lanky gekur seemed to be the one he was being lead to.  Immediately there was something off about this one, but Arin couldn’t say what tipped him off right away, it was just in his gut.  
         “Arin!  Lovely that you’re up!” The Commander was _very_ eloquent for a gekur speaking a human tongue.  There was a tick of stress between all ten of the Commander’s black eyes, something told Arin that, _perhaps_ , the earlier problem had not yet been resolved.  Time was of the essence, and that made him bold.  
         “Where am I?  Why am I here?  Where’s…”  Arin’s heart thudded in his chest, remembering a sudden pain in his stomach and his left arm throbbed again. “Where’s Dan?”  
         The Commander’s head drooped to the floor, much to the disapproving hisses and clicks of all the other gekur in the room manning the consoles.  It had no horns to bear for protection, why would a member of the higher echelons of command _dare_ act this way?  Again, Arin knew something was wrong, and his knowledge of this fact due to mere subtle clues made him question is situation all the more, “I am afraid…  The council has captured your mate.” The Commander spoke slowly for Arin’s consideration, “Before we can begin to formulate what to do about it, though--”  
         “Wait, wait, hold up--you’re here to _help_?” Arin narrowed his eyes as if he had any right at all to be questioning such a boon as not to be _killed_ on the spot by these dangerous people.  
         “You and the…   _Doctor_ , were arguing in our defense, we would never scorn one who wishes to help us.”  It was more than just eloquent…  It used pronouns apart from “it”, perhaps it had been raised on Earth?  
 _How fascinating_.  A thought echoed in Arin’s head, but he shrugged it off “Okay… I’ll believe you.” Not that he had a choice.  
         “Splendid!” The Commander punched the air with one pair of arms, it was a definitely human gesture to say the least.  “What do you remember from the courtroom?  Anything?”  
         Arin drew his brows in, thinking hard on what he had been through before his rude awakening.  
  
 _Arin’s footsteps echoed in the empty entry hall of the tower.  The archways of the room were well-lit with artificial lighting and lined with many doors with peculiar scrawls printed on them._ _  
_ _“You can think of this as a combination courthouse, embassy and city hall.” Lyrdaanaavydaa filled in for the questions Arin doubtlessly had.  “Each of the doors hold ambassadors to various planets.  The larger ones, of course, are reserved for the diplomats from planets within the clusters, other ones, the smaller ones for planets that are far off, are empty most of the year.”  They continued on as Arin nodded, still looking around the grand building.  “They’re all empty right now, though.  Everyone is gathered in the grand column up ahead.”_ _  
_ _“What’s going to happen?” Arin swallowed nervously, trying to not lag behind the faster beings guiding him._ _  
_ _“We will be interrogated.  Or rather…  You will.  There might be times that I will be requested to leave the room, but, no other species here speaks your language and you understand no other languages.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa gave a helpless, human shrug.  “Things you need to know; do not speak unless you are spoken to, let me handle difficult situations, don’t raise your voice, look them in their eyes when speaking, if they ask you to submit to a mental probe--I know it’s not ideal--but do it.”_ _  
_ _“But… Dude, what if they…  You know, see that…?  You did things to my memory?”_ _  
_ _“I will find a way to deal with it then.  Brian can get you home by himself.”_ _  
_ _“You know he wouldn’t just leave you here…”_ _  
_ _“He would at least make sure you were safe before doing anything rash.”  Or they could just keep telling themself that…  They liked to believe that Brian was responsible._ _  
_ _“Where is Brian anyway?”_ _  
_ _“Brian’s form is a bit too massive to come here, so he will be participating through use of a hologram.  There was some official onboard when you and I left with the tatamean earlier.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa was pensive for a second, “Likely a representative from my world that’s capable of effectively communing with the Ydyrn.  Some are better at it than others.”_ _  
_ _“Don’t they have their own language?  Why can’t he just talk?”_ _  
_ _“It’s…”  Lyrdaanaavydaa shook their head, “Listen, I never said my planet was perfect, prejudices die hard within cultures, even if people know they’re stupid.”_ _  
_ _“Okay, but, what does that have to do with Brian not talking?”_ _  
_ _“The language inherent to the Ydyrn people is not understood by anyone else off the planet of Vysvaa.  It is deemed… A footnote; not worthy of examination.  Brian does not have the time to or capabilities to pick up languages as quickly as I can.  Just the same, the standard language of this cluster would be cumbersome for him to speak.  It works better to just have an interpreter.”_ _  
_ _“And... You can’t do it because you could possibly lie, right?”_ _  
_ _Lyrdaanaavydaa nodded stiffly, “Exactly.”_ _  
_ _The small party came to stand before a pair of wide, towering doors.  They were not particularly ornate, in fact, they made a hospital room seem gaudy and loud by comparison.  With a groan that evinced their great weight, they cracked open just wide enough to allow the three entry into a dark room.  From where they stood, the hall had a single light cast straight down over the center with several lights all in rows going up the walls._ _  
_ _Arin stepped through the double-doors into the tower.  The room was massive, but the most unnerving thing about it was the lack of an echo as his feet connected with the soft flooring, or when he coughed into his hand.  The grand council hall was silent…  He swallowed and followed Lyrdaanaavydaa to the center of the lit platform._ _  
_ _“Uh, dude, where--” Arin didn’t get a chance to finish his question as the room rumbled to life.  All at once, the faces and bodies of dozens of alien life forms came into view around the perimeter, just above each glowing light.  The activity created a mix of rumbles and scraping sounds that all died off just as soon as they were made in the soundproof room._ _  
_ _“I love you, Arin.” Lyrdaanaavydaa said, but Arin somehow already knew he was the only one who could hear it._ _  
_ _“I love you too.” Arin breathed, perhaps not meaning it the same way as Lyrdaanaavydaa did, but it didn’t make the statement any less meaningful.  The love of friendship was not any less powerful than the love of partners._ _  
_ _Lyrdaanaavydaa stood up straighter--if that was possible as the false spine of the Ryvyysl already made them stiff--addressing in a loud, clear voice.  Arin focused hard on understanding “We who have been sought to stand before the court give our greetings!  Lyrdaanaavydaa~_ ** _ly_** _~Bi_ ** _xy_** _aalaan~_ ** _ly_** _~Vysvaa and Arin Hanson of Earth.”_ _  
_ _It felt so formal--and Arin knew it was--but it still baffled him that he stood here at all.  His Earth name being added to an illustrious list of other alien names this court had heard.  He wasn’t just a name from Earth, he was an alien standing before other aliens.  He was different in body, but on equal footing as a stranger to this land.  Arin ran out of time to consider the gravitas of the moment, an alien stepped up to the center podium.  A tall, muscular and upright creature with ocher skin and two eyes in a bald skull regarded the two far below.  Lyrdaanaavydaa had been right to say that the dominant species of Lodora looked human enough.  There were noticeable differences, nonetheless from the four divots on their large foreheads to their lack of ears and the huge, black pores under a protrusive snout.  Still, there was no way Arin would’ve mistaken one for one of his own.  Especially, Arin considered, because the person that stood behind the podium raised a hand-like structure with at least ten digits upon it._ _  
_ _Lyrdaanaavydaa spoke again as a rather scaled-down hologram--Arin assumed--of Brian’s true body appeared before the council as well--_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Arin, please stay calm, this will only take a second.” Lyrdaanaavydaa tried to comfort their friend as the ramifications of this agreement hit him.  They laid a second tentacle onto his shoulder, feeling how tense he was as Arin shrank away from the two advancing Lodorians.  “It’s going to be okay.”_ _  
_ _“What are those things?” Arin asked, breath hitching as his eyes settled on the black blobs in the hands of the other aliens._ _  
_ _“They’re…  We’ll just call them memory collectors.”_ _  
_ _The two Lodorians came to stand before the pair, Arin cringed as far back against Lyrdaanaavydaa’s body as possible.  With their typical sighing mumbles, they commanded, “Submit to examination.”_ _  
_ _“They want you to stand before them.”  Lyrdaanaavydaa gave Arin a push, “Go on.”_ _  
_ _“But…  Dude, what if--”_ _  
_ _“It’s fine, it’s all going to be fine.” They tried to soothe, but really, Lyrdaanaavydaa wasn’t so sure how fine everything was…  There were very few times that they were grateful for_ _the_ \--  
  
 _Arin screamed and scrambled for Lyrdaanaavydaa’s side in the chaos of the grand council hall.  Red and black erupted around the hall and too vied for the esteemed doctor--in the pandemonium Arin was shoved in the proper direction, face-first into the squishy body of Lyrdaanaavydaa and what should have been a relieving reunion was anything other than that._ _  
_ _Arin opened his mouth to speak, but Lyrdaanaavydaa’s being pressed further against him, almost turning to liquid and choking him.  The being oozed into every available orifice on Arin’s face; Arin’s ears, tear ducts, and mouth were assaulted, but weren’t a primary source of pain.  His left arm screamed the most, but the material filling his mouth forbade him from making this anguish heard.  He could not see through the inky blackness of the body before him, making the unknown pain all the worse._ _  
_ _In the blink of an eye, it was all gone, Lyrdaa--_ Dan _\--shouting as he was ripped away by bodies less yielding than his own.  The lack of support made Arin stumble and he heard Dan shouting, but he could not understand him.  His body pulsed, pregnant with pain and confusion--everything hurt from his head to his toes and his arm--god what was wrong with his arm?!_ _  
_ _Arin felt a shoulder in his stomach, a claw on his back and the pain that made his arm feel like molten metal.  His pain threshold reached, he lost consciousness_.  
  
         “I don’t remember much of anything…  Not really.”  Nothing important, but…  He new that would change, he knew he knew the answers, he just had to be patient.  Swallowing hard, he lifted  his left arm, looking at it with a critical eye.  There was a faint glow to his flesh and it yielded like thin gelatine to the touch.  “What happened to me?  In the grand council hall?”  
         The young gekur standing before him shook its head, “I don’t know.”  It admitted, sullen “The only one who can answer that is back on Lodora, rotting in some cell.”  
         “Dan…”  Arin raised his hands to his hair, raking through it “I should have fucking…”  He would have more time to berate himself for being stupid later--after first figuring out what else was going on, his mind was racing a million miles an hour, there was no end to the stream of what he knew and what he didn’t know and everything he _needed_ to know!--”What’s going to happen to him?”  
         “To tell you the truth Arin?  I don’t know.”  The four-armed beast of a being gave a very human shrug.  Again there was a twinge in his gut, this gekur was _wrong_.  
         “Hey--” The sudden jolt in the ship sent Arin to the metal ground, his elbow cracking against the grating, “Fuck!”  
         “He’s here!  We can stop running!” The young Commander waved all four arms “Open hailing frequencies! Now!”  
         “What’s happening?” Arin scrambled to his feet, fear for the unknown situation and unfamiliar faces trumped by a need within to preserve his own skin.  The best way to do that was render aid and that could not be done without information.  
         “While you were sleeping, we were being pursued!” It answered as the pilots of the ship wove between massive hunks of space rock and the communications officers contacted their pursuer, “Hiding in an asteroid field only works for so long.”  It grabbed onto Arin’s waist with a huge paw to keep him from falling back to the floor when the ship rocked again.  
         “Hiding from what?!” Arin’s view hastily whipped around, though he wasn’t sure for what he was looking.  
         “A fucking whale.”  
         A two-way transmission spread over the communications screen and none other than Brian’s disgruntled, human face was to be seen.  He had a scrape at his hairline that trailed blood down his face to drip from his chin and a resolute grit to his jaw, “ _Grrrr’ssss-gryaat!_ ” Brian spewed from an angry mouth.   _Horrid scum of existence_ , Arin knew.  
         “Please, we speak English.” The Commander tried to soothe the red-hot anger before an offended crew.  Arin felt his heart leap into his throat, Brian was ydyrn--shoot first and ask questions later.  It was time to see if his so-called human genetic memory would mellow out the urge to act on impulse.  
         “Brian, wait!  I’m here!” Arin waved his arms, “They’re n--”  
         “Yes, I know.” Brian spit as if to silence him, “There is nowhere you can go now that I can’t find you.”  If that was meant for himself or for all the gekur around him specifically, Arin couldn’t say.  
         “You will want to hear what we have to say before you resign yourself to a fight, Brian.” The Commander tried to ply once more.  
         “Then speak.” Brian ordered.  
         “I want to trust you, but you have to trust me first.”  
         The human visage of his friend showed confusion equal to what Arin felt.  A gekur speaking of trust in a standoff?  It was so bold so as to say _I_ when speaking…  It gave Arin the willies.  
         “You’ve rejected my simple demand of the return of the human, I see no reason to trust you.” Brian spoke evenly.  
         “We have your mate and offspring aboard.”  
         At first, Brian was silent, it didn’t last long and a snarl returned to his voice when he had at last found his words “ _Krrrrgr’h!I” Liar_ , he declared.  
         Arin saw no reason to disbelieve the gekur…  Just as he had no reason to disbelieve that they meant no harm.  If they knew Brian at all--as it seemed they did if they knew he had a human mate--they had no reason to divulge such information knowing his inherent distrust.  It would’ve been a foolish bluff.  
         “Communications, please!” The Commander motioned to Big Red who parroted his English into the unruly gekur tongue.  
         Arin’s breath caught in his throat as the screen split to a scene that must’ve been elsewhere in the ship.  He watched the despair unfold on Brian’s face as Rachel, holding their daughter, appeared in view.  Something in his chest wrenched and urged him to run, but he stayed put.  This was an impossible situation, there would be no winners.  
         “Brian?  Is that you?” Rachel asked the screen before her.  Tears welled into her eyes “What did the aliens do to you?!  Why are you bleeding?”  
         “Wait, Brian’s here?!” Another voice came--Holly!--and Arin’s guts rolled, Suzy joined the screen and Barry.  Each, aside from being in the ship, looked in perfectly fine health, not a scratch on either.  
         “Holishit!  It’s him!” Barry proclaimed with a grin seconds before the transmission cut out.  
         “You’re…   _Worse_ than the scum of existence!” Brian began, his rage newly set aflame “The **shame** of your brood!  A useless, _casteless_ , **_invalid_**!” He pounded a fist on the console before him as saliva flew onto the viewfinder of the transmitter.  His face was red, jaw set and veins bulged with the power of his rage that brought a wave of disgusted, offended hisses and clicks from all gekur that understood.  Arin shifted uneasily, unable to adequately predict the scope of possible reactions from the honor-wounded, incensed battalion he was among.  
         “Please, there’s no need for the harsh language…  They have not been harmed, nor will they be.  Agree to board so we can work this out.  The Commander suggested--a wave of panic replacing the malcontent of the crew.  Even Arin couldn’t help the thought of _Does it really know nothing about ydyrnr?_ That rose unbidden within him.  If it really was so ignorant, this could turn into an unnecessary bloodbath.  
         “Come on, Brian…  Just…  Trust them, okay?  Nothing bad’s going to happen.”  Arin spoke through the distasteful hisses of the fretting gekur.  He hoped he had adequately conveyed his caution--Arin didn’t know just _what_ Brian could do to them, but he knew for certain it was devastating.  
         “Commander, the y--”  
         “Set him to board.” The young gekur spoke over its elder, strong and resolute.  
         Big Red hissed, but grudgingly relayed the orders to the upset crew.  A gekur would never dare go against authority.  
         Brian terminated the communication and now all that there was for Arin to do was wait.  Not to mention hope for the best.  All was silent for a few minutes.  Then…  It was silent for an even longer time than anyone in the command room was comfortable with…  The collection of gekur uneasily stirred, Arin catching a whisper of “ _It has doomed the colony_.” in Gekurick.  
         “What’s taking so long?” The Commander asked, a gekur older than it answering “ _It has invited the end into the colony_.”  As Arin suspected, however, the Commander did not understand the home tongue of its people.  
 _Okay, but how do you you understand?_  Arin asked himself as if he expected to have an answer appear out of the crevices of his mind.  His unease was quashed as a pair of quick footsteps echoed against the hard metal of the ship’s deck.  
         Brian entered the command room, the gekur scattering from their spots like roaches before light in his presence.  One fell to the floor, completely unconscious and another flexed its claws from their sheathes to threaten its comrades into a corner.  By the way its body shook and a series of pained squeals broke from its mouth, it was clear that it did not have control over its own functions.  This was exactly what Arin had been hoping Brian _wouldn’t_ do.  
         Under one arm, Brian held an object much too large for him to have any luck wielding.  Arin puzzled for why the object was familiar, he knew what it was, he knew he knew as he apparently knew he knew _a lot_ of things he shouldn’t know about.  What did it do--it shouldn’t be here--how was it used--Brian _really_ shouldn’t have brought it.  Arin stood up straight as Brian’s eyes flicked to him and he heard _There’s something wrong with that one_.  Arin knew he meant the Commander.  
         The Commander gekur scoffed “You can’t possibly use that.” It even impishly, if one could call its face capable of such an expression, smirked.  The other gekur, held hostage by one of their own, looked on at what they assumed to be the bravest of their own.  
         “No, I can’t.” Brian admitted with a shrug and a smile.  “But he can.” Brian gave an almighty swing with the object, tossing the metallic and green-glowing item to Arin.  
         “Whoa, what?!”  Arin tried to step back, but his left arm raised instead with an unknown magnetism to grip the…  This thing was a **_gun_**!  Arin shrieked in pain as his arm molded around the intricate grooves and ports of the weapon and a pant of effort broke from him as the weapon’s glow intensified and hummed to life. “Brian!  How do I know how to use this thing?!”  He settled into a wide stance, bracing what used to be his elbow against his abs for support.  Arin’s panic didn’t diminish in the slightest when he heard __Calm down in the recesses of his mind.  
         “Don’t you tell me to calm down!” With Arin’s rising emotions the gun hummed louder, a bright orb building at the barrel’s end.  The gekur in the room each clicked in terror, but the Commander stood firm and square, unworried about the threat that stood so close to it.  
         “I didn’t but… It’s worthy advice.” Oddly, Brian sounded… Relaxed?  “I’m now also realizing that my insurance wasn’t needed.” He smirked, stepping over to Arin to put his hand against the flesh of his face.  
         Arin felt a soothing pulse, strong enough to extinguish the light at the end of the barrel.  There were…  More important things to worry about right now.  More important…  More important than fucking learning why his arm was stuck inside the gun?!  
         “You’ll all be pleased to know that no one is dead, just sleeping.” Brian announced to the whole room, turning from Arin while the human lifted the weapon that was now somehow part of his body to rest it on his shoulder.  Bold and sure of himself, Brian approached the Commander, a knowing smirk on his face, “Well, Commander General, consider your offer of alliance accepted.”


End file.
